Into the Night
by purplestar613
Summary: Modern day FOURTRIS! Tris: a college student and waitress by day, but dirty dancer at a club called Dauntless by night. She is looking for a way out, but what happens when she meets a mysteriously handsome young man with dark blue eyes assisting her English class, and then see him again at the club? The universe can be really cruel sometimes. **Chapter 9 is up!** MONDAY updates
1. Chapter 1

****Hello all! This is a modern day FOURTRIS fanfic. The idea just popped into my head and I had to write it down now before the inspiration disappeared. Sigh… the struggles of writing. Anyhoosers, this idea was inspired by the song **_**Dirty Dancer**_** by Enrique Iglesias. Of course the story won't follow the song all the way through, but… I thought to myself, huh, what would it be like if Tris was a stripper? Odd concept, but I'm going with it. Please be patient with me when it comes to updating; I'm not the most consistent person in the world when it comes to it. So I'm apologizing in advance. My goal though is to update once a week. Also I just wanted to add, that I am making up my own University for them to go to, so no hate please! Now then, without further ado, let the show begin!****

**Tris POV**

The music pounds in my ears. The sound of people cheering, and screaming isn't what pushes me onward. It's the knowledge that I'll have had one of my best tipping nights ever in a while. Two bachelor parties came tonight, one of them with a specific request to see me. Peter made sure they had a private room to view me in.

But now, back out in the main room, in the center of the stage with my counterpart Candy, we grinded on each other until the guys in the room passed out.

Candy of course, isn't her real name, but in this business, we need fake names to avoid creepers. Candy, is the stage name for my roommate and best friend Christina Carlyle. She really is beautiful, and in can understand why a lot of guys want her to dance for them, or do other unsavory things to them, but I can't for the life of me figure out why I'm currently ranked as the number 1 dancer. Compared to Christina, I may as well be a boy in drag. I have little curve in my hips at best. My skin is pale and sickly unless pounds of makeup are thrown on. My breasts are just barely B-cups and I'm short.

Whereas Christina is like an exotic beauty. Full breasts, curves to die for, long slim legs and dark brown eyes that command a room. She also has quite a mouth on her, however, thanks to the new rules Eric put in, we aren't allowed to talk to the customers unless they pay for it.

Eric Matheson, creepy ass guy, is Max's second in command. Max is our boss, but he's almost never around. He's either up in his office hidden away or at one of his other clubs. The string of clubs is known as The Factions. There are six of them, though I think he's dropping one of them soon. We work in the club called Dauntless. The main club colors are black, meaning you have to be wearing something black to enter.

All the dancers wear some kind of black with the occasional accent colors. The club is underground and probably the wildest of the clubs in the Factions. Every one of the dancers Max owns are known as Max's Angels.

He has another one on the northeast end of central Chicago at the top of some high class building known as Erudite. Just like guests here have to wear black, they have to wear blue to get in there. The dancers there mostly wear blue, white and black. It's much more of a higher society club.

Another known as Candor, where guests have to be wearing black _and _white. That place has lots of strobe lights and is high up in some building with all glass walls similar to Erudite. I think it's located on the more northern side of central Chicago, and you can see the navy pier from its location. I visited there once just as all new dancers do, to see where I would best fit in.

The fourth is on the west side of central Chicago. It's known as Abnegation. You have to wear gray to get in. I almost went there, but I prefer Dauntless much better. Abnegation is more of a bar than a club, and it's open to mostly middle aged people who don't dance and don't raise their voices above a room level. It is a big place for sports I hear, but I wasn't interested in it, though it would have probably been the safer choice.

Amity is the fifth club. And it's not even really a club at all. It's more of a party planning place where people can go and buy things to plan their own parties. It's near the Abnegation, but still in its own area. Max's main office site is there, because that's where all his other employees work. The ones who do his bills, do all the paperwork and stuff. Most of the time though, he's here at Dauntless. The people at Amity were too nice for me.

The sixth club, the one I'm pretty sure he's going to drop fairly soon, is known as The Gutter. But he's been making the joke that the Gutter will be known as the Factionless soon enough. It's still a club, but its wear he sends the older washed up dancers to go. They really don't care what you wear to get in, since its so much of a dump anyway. The most famous dancer there is known as Deception. She started at Erudite and became very popular. But was then transferred to Abnegation. Apparently she got pregnant, and that's one of the only ways Max lets you leave. But she came back about ten years later and started working at the Gutter. She's still fairly popular there, but she's been going by Deception so much that no one knows her real name.

Eric is the manager of our club, and more importantly, the guy who tells me what to do and when to do it. He's tall, broad shouldered, buzzed blonde hair on the side of his head, and growing it out on top. Similar to a marine cut, and trust me, he could easily look the part. He has a black eyebrow piercing and many others in his ears. Tattoos on his neck that look like tire tracks of some kind, and others on his arms. He likes to watch us dress and warm up.

But then there's Peter, the schedule manager. He tells us at the beginning of the night who is booked in which rooms for the night, and the different acts that are going on stage. The schedule is created by Eric, but Peter gets the joy of walking into our dressing room to tell us up close and personal.

The final number is coming up. Christina and I each grab a pole at the front of the stage, the lights are flashing red and blue. We flip over so that our legs bent around the poll are the only thing holding us up and begin to spin. For some reason, the guys love this. Probably because it shows how flexible we are and our boobs practically fall out of our skimpy tops. We flip over at the last second and pound our feet into the ground and strike a pose as the last beat of the music ends, and the stage goes black.

I can still hear the echoes of the last music notes pounding in my head. My breathing is heavy, and I can hear the guys cheering. There are hands shoving money into my black knee high leather boots. Then after another moment, Christina and I turn and walk back off stage.

"Good job tonight guys." Another one of us dancers says to us. Her name is Shauna, she's two years older than us, and has been doing this the longest out of everyone here. Her stage name is Bambi, and she's been looking for a way out for a while.

"Alright ladies, money on the table." Peter says as he comes up to us. Christina and I empty our boots like every night. Anything that goes into the boot belongs to the club. Money that goes anywhere else, is our tip. All in all, our boots count up to about $400 tonight. In tips, as in stuffed into my revealing outfit or stuck in my hair, I made about $70 tonight. Not my best night. Certainly not my worst. Christina pulls out just over $100. She was booked for one more private party than I was tonight.

We head back to the dressing room while Peter watches us. Lauren guards the entry way. She used to be a dancer here, but she got older and didn't make as much. Rather than getting sent to the Gutter, Eric thought she could be useful since she's kinda scary to those who don't know her, and it helps that they're cousins, so now she's part of the security team. Her stage name was Glo, and that's what we still call her. She doesn't like being called Lauren in here. Anywhere else is fine, but not in this building. Just like the rest of us. If we see each other in public we don't dare say our stage names, and pray to god that no one recognizes us.

Lynn's station is next to mine, her stage name is Luscious. She's currently pulling off her hot pink wig to reveal her buzzed brown hair. Shauna's station is next to hers and they share a look. They're sisters. But their parents died young. Shauna got into this business at 15, dropping out of high school and passing off as 18. That's why she got the name Bambi, she was young when she lost her parents. She did everything she could to provide for Lynn and their younger brother Hector, but it wasn't enough. Lynn started working here, and together they managed enough money to send Hector to a good school. I don't think he knows what it is they do or how they got the money. He knows they have day jobs – even if it's working for the same man – but not this. He doesn't know that they're owned by Max. We all are. And Shauna and Lynn would kill anyone who told him what it is they really do.

Victoria, or Tori as she prefers is the next girl to walk in whose been here a long time. She came right after Shauna, except she was 20 when she started. She's the oldest stripper here, but she keeps guys coming back, plus she looks fantastic. Her stage name is Paris because she was born there.

Cara is right behind her, already struggling to get out of her outfit. Cara is different from most of us. We're here mostly because we need money for life and college, and so is she, but she loves school. When she's not on stage, she's hiding out back here reading. Eric calls her a Nose. She wants to major in Organic Chemistry for reasons that are beyond me. Science just flies right over my head. But because that's what she want to major in, odds are that she'll be in school a year longer than those of us going for average majors. She needs the money more than anything. When she's on stage, Cara is on fire and super popular among guests, but as soon as she's off stage, she looks like a fish out of water. Eric gave her the name Trinity for working on stage.

Molly is the last main girl in our gig to walk in. She's a bit more masculine looking but she pulls it off. To be perfectly honest, no one really likes her. She picks on us, and tries to beat us down so that she can have the spotlight. She reminds me of Peter in a way. Her given stage name is Porsche.

I strip out of my black and red outfit, and pull on dark gray stretch pants and a black peasant top. Wiping most of the makeup off my face, and removing my black wig. I hate this thing. It gets hot and scratchy, but it and my tattoo, goes with my stage name; Raven.

My real hair is plain blonde. No highlights or coloring of any kind. Just a dull pale color, much like the rest of my skin. My gray-blue eyes aren't bright and shiny, they're just kind of there. An accessory to add to my plainness.

School begins tomorrow. My third year. I was finally able to declare my major last week with the guidance counselor and got into the beginning classes for it. Creative Writing with a minor is Physical Education. I have to stay in shape for this job and this seemed like the easiest way to make sure I don't slack off. It was more Max's idea than anything. Almost all of us who are in school are required by Max to have a minor in Physical Education.

Christina and I leave the club and walk to the parking lot. It's 3am. We strategically only take afternoon classes. Then go to work in the diner which opens at 4pm, where they allow us time to do homework between taking care of customers and then finally the club which opens at 10pm. The diner is open until the early hours of the morning, and Max finds girls who need work to do the job. They are generally girls who he's grooming to go into our business.

My first class isn't until noon, so if I get home soon, I can get a full eight hours of sleep. Christina doesn't have class until 2pm. I'll have to take the bus to campus since our car is technically _her_ car.

We drive home and I long to immediately jump into bed. It's not a very big apartment. An entry way/living room area, kitchen/dining room to the right, bathroom in between the two bedroom doors which are parallel to the living room area. I'm in the corner room, and Christina in the room between the bathroom and living room. My room is just big enough for a bed, dresser, small closet with a floor length mirror, small desk and window to the building's fire escape. Christina's room wouldn't have a window normally, but we're on the top floor so she has a small skylight. We've been living here since we started working for Max.

I put my money in the safe under my bed and then hide it in the back of my closet. I always try to hide it somewhere new every few days just in case. Christina makes me eat some romen noodles and drink a glass of water before bed because we haven't had dinner yet. She then goes to sit on the couch and read the last bit of her summer assignment I go to my room.

The floor length closet mirror immediately to my left startles me every time. White Christmas lights hand around the ceiling and give me a haunting look; left over makeup smeared under my eyes, my cheeks hurt from smiling, and my body droops from dancing all night. Luckily Max only makes us do it every other night. We do however work in the diner every day except Sundays. On the nights that aren't ours, a different group of dancers work Dauntless. I don't know any of the girls in that group.

Tomorrow is Wednesday, the first day of the semester. I've been attending Central Chicago University, home of the purple-silver-black wolves, for the last two years. And I've been working for Max for four. I started when I was 16. When my parents died. I ended up getting a tattoo to represent them, ravens, on my left collar bone. I got three in total, meaning one for my brother Caleb. He's 10 months older than me, but we're technically in the same grade. Only he went off to New York after our parents died, for something in science. The ravens are how I got my stage name, and it wasn't something horrible like Chastity. My first night there was also Christina's, and afterwards, we went to go get tattoos of Max's mark on our lower back. A spout of flames contained in a ring with extended wings on the sides. Because we are Max's Dauntless Angels. Those in Erudite have to get the same thing but with an eye instead of flames, which I think is totally creepy. Those in Abnegation have to get two hands clasped together. Those in Candor get scales, and not like animal scales, but weight scales. Amity get a tree, which I actually think is kind of pretty. And those in the Gutter just have whichever place they originated from.

As far as I know Max only has one set of male dancers for girl's night which happens once a month in three of the clubs. It happens on the first Friday of the month at Dauntless. The second Friday at Erudite. The third Friday at Candor. I've never met any of them. Shauna, Tori and Lauren know some of them, but they say that the guys are all jerks.

I fall asleep quickly when my head hits my pillow. I made sure to have advil and a glass of water waiting for me when I woke up since the lights and music can leave devastating headaches the next morning.

I can still hear the nightlife of my neighborhood as I drift off. And I ask myself the same question over and over again as the darkness takes me; how am I ever going to get out of this?

****PLEASE REVIEW and tell me what you think! I am very motivated to update when I get reviews!****


	2. Chapter 2

****Thank you guys so much for the reviews! And just so everyone knows, I do read them all and I do take your ideas into consideration. And a few of you mentioned a certain topic about Tris's boring boy-ish figure… FEAR NOT! I already had a plan for her, and she ain't gonna like it! But all in good time. You have given me some wonderful inspiration! Heads up too, there is some texting in this chapter, and I wanted to let you lovies know that whenever there is texting, the person in **_**Bold Italics, **_**is going to be the person this POV is on. ****So in this case, Four would be in **_**Bold Italics. **_**And plain**_ Italics_ **is going to be the other.** **Tootles!****

****P.S. I don't think I'm going to dip into Four's POV regularly, and if I do his chapters could be relatively short, however this one is not. Apologies in advance.****

**Four POV**

"Wakey wakey Four!"

I could punch him. I really could, but I probably shouldn't since he's letting me live here until my new apartment is ready.

"Come on dude. You're gonna be late for your meeting." This wakes me up. I can't be late today! It's my first day as a TA in Humanities. Shadowing my favorite professor of all time, Amar Atwell. I don't yet know which class of his I'm shadowing, but I have to report to his office Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings at 8am either way.

The cheap alarm clock reads 7:30 in bright green lights. Zeke is right, I'm going to be late. Good thing I showered last night and already have everything packed. I throw on a pair of dark jeans since Amar likes to keep things semi casual, and a dark blue button up shirt. I grab my black jacket, shoes, shoulder bag, keys and am out the door in my car by 7:45.

It's a short drive from Zeke's house to campus. And the only reason I'm not living on campus is because I'm a graduate student.

The Humanities building is in the middle of campus, and Amar's office is on the top floor. I stumble into the office at 8:04, but it's empty. Amar's brief case and coat are at his desk and his computer is turned on, but he's not here. Maybe he went for coffee and won't notice I got here late.

"You're late Four." Amar says in a humorous tone behind me. I turn quickly and see Amar smirking with a coffee in one hand. Then he looks at the clock and laughed. "I'll be damned. Four minutes again. That's actually kind of impressive." Amar is the only professor I know on campus who has dreadlocks. But for him, it works.

"I'm sorry I'm late Amar."

"Don't sweat it kid." He sits in his chair. "I'm not _that_ strict if you haven't already noticed. However, it is really fun to watch new kids squirm thinking I'm really strict. Gotta put on your instructor face." I nod and watch him begin to type on his computer. "You can sit you know." He gestures to the small desk in the corner of the room.

"So which class will I be helping with?"

"English 344. Advanced Shakespeare. It'll be mostly English majors or somewhere in that department taking the class." He smiles at nothing. "If I remember correctly, that's the first class I had with you." I smile with him. I thought Amar was terrifying when I first met him, but also quite fascinating. "The class is at 3pm. You're dismissed to go about your day. Normally we'll meet here in the morning to go over the lesson plan for the day, but since it's the first day we'll just be going over the syllabus which you already have."

"Yes sir."

"Hey Four, come on." His face cringes. "Do I look like a sir to you?"

I chuckle. "Old habit. Sorry."

He waves me off and I walk out the door.

It's still early morning and not many people are out and about. Many students hate early morning classes, but I find them rather enjoyable. Getting to wake up in the morning with something to immediately look forward too. Not to mention the earlier my classes began, the earlier I was away from home. I don't like to think about that. I haven't lived with him since Junior year in high school, when I moved in with Zeke and his family. His mother took me in and raised me as one of her own. I liked that place much more than home. Now that Zeke has his own place, I figured it was time to look for one of my own. Don't get me wrong, I love Zeke as a brother, but he parties way too much for my taste. I need a place of my own to have some quiet.

I find my favorite spot near the small man-made stream that runs through campus. It was supposed to be part of a sculpture, but it froze too much in the colder seasons that maintenance gave up and just let it run it's course. A student last year actually figured out a way to keep it from flooding too. They put some kind of sensor in the wall of the river, and whenever it reached that sensor, the pool where the river ends would drain.

It's peaceful here. No one would bother me since I'm a graduate student, not to mention I can be intimidating when I want to be.

I pull out a book that Zeke gave me to read over the summer. I never did. But he insisted, in his sincerest of voices, that it really was a decent book. I have two hours before my first actual class, so I begin to read.

A giggle breaks my concentration after twenty minutes. Freshmen. Female freshmen to be specific. The ones that still think they can dress like they did in High School. Pink miniskirts and revealing blouses, matched with high heels. Really, high heels on campus? Too much makeup and hair that is not naturally that fluffy. They all hold a coffee in their hands. And, they're watching me.

They keep looking back at me when they think I'm not looking, and continue to do it even when I'm wearing a scowl. I hate when people stare at me.

Finally, they get up and leave. It's only 9am. I still have an hour. I hate waiting. It makes me nervous and antsy.

Class comes around. It's fairly easy stuff for me, but for some it's obviously difficult. After majoring in Computer Science – Security Emphasis, I'm now working on a master's in Education – Child's Service Emphasis. Not that I necessarily want to be a teacher, that's kind of what my TA position is about this semester; to see if I like it. But I want to be able to understand how to better communicate with dependents, specifically those who come from abusive homes. And if anyone asks why I went into this, I tell them it's none of their business. Even Amar doesn't know the extent of what happened in that house, and I pray he never does.

My phone buzzes on my way to Amar's class. 3pm has rolled around already.

It's a message from Zeke.

_Meet at The Pit after class?_

_**Sure. Be there by 4:30.**_

_My Comm. Prof is smoking ;)_

I roll my eyes at the message.

_Srsly tho. Wanna bet how long it'll take me to get her?_

_**No thank you Zeke. Probably best not to do anything.**_

_Your no fun._

_**You're***_

_Fuck off grammar bitch_

I laugh, then put my phone back in my pocket. I walk up to the Cedar building, which houses the English department, and most of the English lecture rooms. Amar said we're in 406. Meaning the top floor. Great. I take in a deep breath and hold my bag a little closer to my body, careful not to look down the gap in the stairs as I climb higher. The floor to ceiling windows that greet me with a view of campus as soon as I reach the top are not helping at all.

"It's not that bad Four." Amar's voice catches me off guard. He was behind me the whole time? "I know you don't like heights, but this is a beautiful view." He stands next to me and looks at it admiringly.

I can only grunt in return.

He laughs and claps me on the back. "Come on. Let's see if we can beat the eager young pupils there." I give him an odd look and he laughs harder.

Room 406 is just around the corner from the staircase. No one is waiting outside of the room. Class starts in a half hour so I'm not totally surprised. We enter the room, and find it lined with windows. Lovely.

"How much do you want to bet that there will be at least one student late?" Amar says.

I look at him confused. "It's the first day. There's always someone late, getting lost, or forgetting."

He waves me off. "Yeah yeah, but I mean just one student. All the others on time. I want to see if I'll have another you in the class."

"Seriously? You can't let that go?"

"The notorious quiet student who was four minutes late to my class. No one is ever late to my class. Everyone knows the 'horror' stories that my past students tell about me."

"Well…" I begin.

"You're supposed to be on my side now. You're a TA." He says in a slightly accusatory tone. A smile covers my face. "I've only made students do laps around the building or pushups in the room when they're disruptive. I don't push them out windows or send them down the stairs in a garbage can."

"That's what they say about you?" I ask my eyes widening along with my smile.

"Don't enjoy this." He snaps. "Students who don't do well in my class make up rumors about me. But that's all they are, rumors."

"Whatever you say Amar." I look down at my desk and he huffs at me. "I will bet you $50 a student walks in _after_ four minutes, beating my astonishing record of excessive tardiness." I add sarcastically, even though that's not exactly why my nickname is Four. My eyes meet his as I take his bet.

"Deal." He says.

There are going to be about 40 students in the class. Amar sets up at the front desk, and I take the smaller one by the door, away from the windows thankfully.

The first student walks in at 2:45. The second at 2:50. Then five more. Amar doesn't say anything to them. He doesn't even acknowledge them. I follow his lead.

At 3pm exactly, Amar addresses the class. He takes roll call, and we find one student missing. He and I eye each other as we both look at the clock. The group of students look at us funny as we wait. And wait. And when four minutes are up, Amar slams his book on the table.

"DAMMIT!" He yells. It scares a good handful of the students, who came in with a wary look already on their faces. One girl in the back even screams. Then he reaches into his wallet and pulls out $50. I smile widely and accept it when he hands it to me. "For those of you who don't know, I just lost a bet to our TA. Would you like to introduce yourself?" He asks me.

I stand in the middle of the front of the room. "Hello, my name is not Four, but that is what I go by. Just like you all have the option of being called something other than your first name, this is mine."

"You mean like the number?" An attractive girl with dark skin and even darker hair asks from two rows back.

"Yes like the number."

"What, 1 through 3 already taken?" She flashes a smile and some of the others laugh quietly.

I smile coolly. "What's your name?"

"Christina."

"Nine letters in your name. Lets double that. 18 pushups."

She gawks slightly. "This is English, not Gym."

Amar joins in, not even looking at her. "Pushups Ms. Carlyle or you forfeit your first mid-term."

Christina huffs and glares at me. A few of the other students look terrified. She begins to get out of her seat. But I stop her. "Front and center please."

"What are you an army wannabe?"

"Not at all." I say, no smile in my voice.

She's through number 12, and to my surprise she was doing quite well. She's certainly in shape. Suddenly a blob of gray bursts through the door and trips over Christina. There's our missing student. I look at the clock. Six minutes.

Suddenly the girl untangles herself from Christina, who starts laughing. They help each other up and Christina then goes to finish the last six. The gray blur of a girl scoots quietly to the last open seat by the window and keeps her head down. When she looks up, she blushes realizing Amar and I are just staring at her. But something else happens. My heart stops momentarily as I look at this girl.

Her hair sits in soft blonde waves down her back. Not like the unnatural blonde girls are obsessed with these days, but a natural blonde. Her rose tinted cheeks are the frosting on the cake, and her eyes. Her eyes are a silvery blue that makes all others look ordinary. Hers are stern, but curious, and gentle all the same. Beautiful. Still, there's a fire about this girl. Her short frame is covered in a gray crew neck that reveals one shoulder covered by a black tank top, and a simple pair of dark jeans.

Amar breaks my trance. "Ms. Prior is it?"

It's then I realize she was staring at me too. Her head snaps up to him. Amar doesn't look at me but I know that he'll talk to me about it later. "Yes." Her voice is soft, but firm.

"I've already called roll. Everyone has had the chance to give me a different name than on the roster if they wish. Is there something other than your name listed that you want to be called?" She seems to almost pale at his question. Why?

"No. My name is fine."

"Very well." He looks down at his chart. "Beatrice." Beatrice. "Would you like to explain why you're six minutes late to my class?"

"I was talking to the professor in my last class and he asked me to stay late." She says simply, but she releases a deep breath like she's relieved.

Amar looks at her with a face I don't see often, concern hidden behind curiosity. "It wouldn't happen to be Professor Thompson would it?"

She nods her head. "Yes it was." Her face still a little pale.

Amar sighs. "That man loves to talk." Something in Amar's voice sets me on edge, but I can't quite pinpoint what it is. Then he eyes her carefully. What is he looking for? "Don't be late next time."

"Yes sir."

"What is with people calling me sir?" Amar asks the class. "Well then, my name is Amar Atwell. You may call me Professor Atwell or Amar. I don't respond to Prof. Or sir. Alright?"

Then it's as if the whole class had the same idea. "Yes sir." They all say. Amar's eyes look like they might pop out of his head. Then the class busts out laughing. Amar is dead silent, like he can't decide if he should be angry and order pushups, laps, or laugh with them. A small smile creeps onto my face that I can't help. This is going to be interesting.

I pick my head up when the laughter is dying down, and find the girl, Ms. Prior who walked in late is just looking down at her desk. A troubled look on her face. For a moment, she picks her head up and her eyes meet mine once more. My smile fades and I don't know how to react. Thankfully Amar starts talking.

The rest of the class is fairly uneventful. Mostly going over the syllabus, talking about exams and punishments for not following the rules.

When class is over, everyone shuffles out. Christina is walking over to the gray blur Ms. Prior, an odd look on her face. They talk easily, so I assume they know each other. Then she looks distressed in a way that makes my blood boil.

They walk out together not long after and I watch them all the way out. Keeping my head down so they don't know I'm watching. Or at least I hope they don't.

"What was that?" Amar says suddenly.

"What?"

"You and her? Do you know her?"

I shrug, but heat floods my chest with embarrassment of being caught. "No. I don't. Why?"

"You two were making goo-goo eyes at each other."

"Were not!"

"Were too!" He teases smirking.

I can feel my face heat up. "I have to go to class." I pick up my bag.

"Liar." Amar smiles as he calls after me. "I know your schedule. You're done for the day."

I flip him off and he laughs.

At the stairs, something catches my eye. Out the window. Beatrice and Christina walking out the building and into the courtyard. It looks like they're talking, and she looks more relaxed. I feel a smile on my face as I watch her. But it's gone in an instance as soon as a young man with light brown hair approaches her. She laughs with him and he throws his arm around her. Christina walks off in some other direction and Beatrice and the guy keep going.

Suddenly I'm afraid of heights again. I can't look anymore. I walk down the stairs in silence and text Zeke letting him know I'm on my way to The Pit.

****Did you guys see what I did there with the room number? Huh? Huh? 406? 4… 6… get it? Someone date me.**

**Please Review!****


	3. Chapter 3

****Hello everyone! I don't think I've done a disclaimer yet – how silly of me – so here it is: I do not own any of the original characters or the main plot line from Divergent, that all belongs to the wonderfully talented Veronica Roth! Now that that's done, I would like to say a big thank you for the reviews! I did want to take a moment to address three in specific:**

** FaultInOurDivergentGames – your review made me snort with laughter **** cheese covered corn… LOL**

**jasminelouise . kirk– I am trying to update once a week, right now it looks like it's gonna be on Mondays**

** Michaela46 – dating is so hard when fangirling and fanfictioning (these verbs should definitely be added to the dictionary) takes over. At least we have each other here on this site!**

**Any hoosers, welcome to Chapter 3 my darlings! I am currently working on Chapter 5, however… this is November, and for those of you writing fanatics that know what that means, then you should know that I could possibly be behind in updating towards the end of the month because I will be working on my novel for NaNoWriMo! Boo-ya. **

**BTWz, if any of you lovely fellow writers are on NaNoWriMo, you should totally add me on it as a writing buddy and I will add you in return! Just PM me your username and I will return the favor!**

**Welp that's all for now! See you in a week! But not literally because that would be creepy.****

**Tris POV**

I wake up before my alarm goes off, about 10 minutes before actually. I sigh and get up anyway. Might as well.

The hot water in the shower is comforting, and it finally feels like I'm washing away the grime of last night at the club. I dry my hair quickly and let it fall in natural soft waves. My makeup is light and simple at best. I throw on a dark pair of jeans and a black tank top since it's still fairly warm outside, but add my old ripped gray crew neck as well.

Christina is still dead asleep when I leave the apartment, but that's okay. She only has one class today, and it's my last class, which doesn't start until 3.

The bus is ten minutes late, but that's not too surprising. It's filled with people from all over town. One girl catches my eye in particular. She's sitting towards the back, in a gray dress and darker gray over coat. Her light brown hair is pinned at the back of her neck in a perfect bun, and she holds her bag tightly to her body. But her stance instantly relaxes when she sees me.

"Beatrice, it's nice to see you." She says as I sit down next to her.

"Hello Susan. How was your summer?"

She smiles. "It was very pleasant. Robert found his own place and moved out. I miss him, but I still see him at school." Then she pauses and blushes furiously. "Have you heard anything new about Caleb?"

I open my mouth to speak but she cuts me off.

"No wait. Forget I asked. That was extremely selfish of me. I'm sorry."

"It's fine, really it's okay to ask. He's still in New York. Still finding himself I suppose." She nods solemnly. We grew up as next door neighbors, and everyone could see how much Susan and Caleb cared about each other. We thought for sure they would end up together. But when our parents died, Caleb changed. He shut himself off into his studies. He had no time for anyone, and shut us all out. Then he got a full ride to New York and left as soon as he could, not looking back. Susan was heartbroken, but she knew he was happy and needed space so she let him go, just like that.

Robert, Susan's twin, and I were a different story. We were a month apart in age, but we were always friends. When we were young, we would tease Susan and Caleb whenever they were alone. But as soon as I got older, and the girls around me began to develop more than I did I tried not to notice how much Robert watched them. I grew up thinking Robert and I would eventually get married, and have kids of our own. But part of me never wanted to follow through with it. As soon as my parents died, that dream of Robert and I died too.

"Have you declared your major?" I ask Susan, changing the subject.

She nods happily. "Yes I have. Communication." Not surprising. She's always been good at talking. "It's a competitive major, but my professor says that I have a bright future in it. She even offered to help and be my advisor."

"That's great."

"And what about you?"

"I declared Creative Writing last week." She gives me an odd look. "What? I don't want to go into education, science is eh, history no, and math is not my thing."

"But you were always so good with computers and science."

I glare at her. "Please drop it."

Her mouth forms a tight line but she shows no real emotion. "You have a minor in Physical Education, don't you?"

My fists tighten slightly. This gives her her answer.

"Oh Beatrice."

"Let's not talk about it okay?"

This makes her a little angry, I can see it in her amber colored eyes, but she doesn't say anything. All of the girls in my profession working for Max take a minor in Physical Education. Just like her mother did.

We finish the bus ride in silence. I know she wants to talk me out of it. She wants to tell me what a bad business I'm in. But she's too good for that. She knows that this is how I make money, and it's money I need. She knows that it's hard to get out of. She knows what happens to the girls that simply run for it. Her mother ran for it. She was an escort in Abnegation, she ran, and she was killed. They were going to transfer her to the Gutter soon enough, but she just wanted out. It happened after I had been dancing in Dauntless for a year. That's how Susan found out what it is I do. Robert never knew, and even though she would never give out a threat, she would kill anyone who smeared her mother's name in front of him.

Robert and I are still friends, but we don't talk as much as we used to. I think I would die of embarrassment if he knew what it was I really do at night. He knows I work in the diner known as The Pit, but he doesn't know that my boss at the diner, is the same boss who watches me dance and please guys for a living.

A lot of the dancers work at one of his diners, all fairly close to where their club is located. The Dauntless girls work at The Pit, famous for our burgers and chocolate cake.

Erudite girls work at a coffee shop called The Nook in the middle of the busy part of the city, famous for fizzy drinks and scones. Abnegation already work at a bar. The Gutter dancers aren't seen during the daylight hours. The Candor girls work at a place called the Merciless Mart, famous for catering weddings with their deserts. They're probably the fanciest of all the eateries. And the Amity girls work at a diner across town from ours called The Fence because it's on the boarder of the city and farmlands, they're famous for sandwiches and a peaceful atmosphere – very family friendly.

I hurry off the bus when it reaches the main campus stop, picking up my pace so Susan can't catch up to me and tell me what she thinks. If I hear it, I'll believe her, and that makes my horrible job more real. As long as I think of it as a dream, or maybe even a simulation, it will be okay. But when you're aware during a dream, you know that anything can happen; anything can hurt you; and it's all real.

My first class is Intro to Creative Studies, otherwise known as English 310. I know I could easily go into science like Susan mentioned today, but in science, I have to follow the rules. In Creative Writing, I can be whoever I want. Make a new name for myself and be as big or as loud as I want, and no one can tell me it's wrong. There's a certain freedom about it that draws me in.

The class is easy, and fairly small since it's a Major Only class. Everyone in the room is excited to be there. We are given an assignment and released after the hour is up.

My next class is also Major Only; Contemporary Editing, or English 325. I enter the room, which is extremely similar to my last one. It's only one building over so I'm early, the first one actually.

"Please come in." A male voice calls to me. I look towards the front of the room and spot a man in a white button up shirt with dark blue dress pants. His hair is arranged nicely, but his eyes make him look like he's been up for hours longer than he should be. "You're here for English 325?"

"Yes."

He smiles. "Then you're in the right place." I smile politely and go to the second row of five and sit in the middle. "Forgive me miss, but you look familiar. Do we know each other?" He asks, a slight frown on his face.

I look over his face, making it seem as though I'm thinking really hard to see if I know him. Really, I'm just focusing on the small scar on his left cheek. It looks familiar. So I lie. "Not that I know of."

"Hmm… You remind me a lot of… But that couldn't be right. Never mind, it'll come to me."

He is shuffling papers around on his desk when a few others enter. He ushers them in with the same kindness he offered me. By the time class begins, I find that mostly girls are in the class. In fact, there's only 3 boys out of 35 people.

"Hello everyone, my name is Connor Thompson, but I prefer to be called Professor Thompson over anything. Now I'm going to take roll. Please correct me if I get your name wrong. I do not take nicknames in this class so whatever is listed here will be what I know you as.

There's a few groans behind me. But Professor Thompson doesn't notice, or doesn't care.

He seems like a really nice guy, and young too. But there is something about him that doesn't quite feel right to me about him. There's a churning in my gut that is all too familiar. It's that feeling I get in the club when a guy is looking at me like I'm dinner rather than a dancer. The kind of guys Eric tells us to report if they're getting too comfortable around us. We're escorts and dancers, not hookers. He makes me want to sit in the back so I can't feel his eyes on me, or just run from the room. He gets to my name.

"Beatrice Prior."

I raise my hand politely. A smile curls on his lips.

"Beautiful name." He says quietly.

Heat rushes to my cheeks as others look at me from hearing what came out of his mouth. I sink into my seat a bit, but try as hard as I can to brush it off. Thankfully he makes some comment about a girl in the front row looking good in her yoga pants.

I don't think I like this man.

When class is over, I have fifteen minutes to cross campus in time for my last class of the day.

"Beatrice, would you hold back please."

Professor Thompson is leaning against his desk watching me. I sigh and walk towards him. "Yes?"

"Beatrice I don't like how you acted in my class today."

What? "I'm sorry? What do you mean?"

He crosses his arms. "You kept your head down, you rarely participated and you kept checking the clock. Am I really that boring? Or do you have somewhere else you'd rather be? With a boyfriend perhaps?" His tone is harsh, and he practically spits out the word boyfriend.

"I was just nervous for this class." Liar. "And, um. No, I don't have a boyfriend."

His facial features relax at this. "Alright. Please participate more next time." We stare at each other for a brief moment, and then he smiles wickedly.

I nod and quickly turn to leave, but he grabs my arm, and pulls me back. Was he waiting for me to turn and make a run for it? His face is close to mine, with my back to him, at least he can't see my face. His breath is sticky and thick. "I look forward to seeing more of you in class, Raven." No… No he can't possibly recognize me like _that!_

I take in as deep of a calming breath that I can, and slowly turn to face him. "Who's Raven?"

His smile widens. "I'll see you in class on Friday." Then he releases my arm. I do all I can not to bolt out of that room. I can't be in this class. I can't be near someone who knows who I am. But I need this class for my major, and it won't be offered again until next fall.

I leave the room and run down the hall, propping myself up by my hands as I take deep breaths as to not bring on a panic attack. I need to calm down. But I need to get to my next class.

My watch beeps as I leave the building. My class starts now. The classroom is a good ten minute walk away. I'm late.

Run. That's what I do. All the way across campus. Over a bridge that covers a small manmade river sculpture which is actually very pretty and into the southern part of campus. I made the walk in five minutes by running. A small line of sweat has started on my brow. Even my underarms have begun to dampen. Super attractive. At least I still smell like my trusty deodorant; cucumber melon.

I run into the building and scale the stairs. I make it to room 406 in such a rush that by the time I reach the door, I haven't given myself time to slow down. I'm sprinting and everything is blurry. By the time I see her it's too late. Christina is on the floor for some reason and she's in my way. I end up tripping over her and fall to the floor on my face, my legs tangled into hers. Heat rushes to my face as I push myself up. Christina has begun to laugh, as the heat fills my chest from embarrassment. I brush myself and scurry over to the last empty seat by the window.

Christina does pushups, for reasons beyond me, a smile still on her face. Then she gets up and goes back to her seat. I just want to get through this class without any other embarrassments and especially without anyone else recognizing me.

The room is still dead silent. I dare to look around and see what is going on, but when I do, both the professor and the T.A are staring at me. My eyes flit back and forth between the two men for a moment, before landing on the T.A. He's staring at me in a different way from the professor. He's looking at me with a furrowed brow, but wide eyes; like he's confused but recognizes me. Oh God I hope he doesn't know me from the club. But something about his stance makes me think he doesn't. He's tall, and well built; not like a mountain by any means but still, he looks strong. His dark shirt hugs his frame nicely. Something about him looks intimidating, but he also looks gentle. My eyes lock onto his, and though I'm far away, I can see the blue of his eyes. Deep, like the unexplored parts of the ocean.

"Ms. Prior is it?" My head snaps up to the professor, who is looking at me with a cocked eyebrow. I can feel more embarrassing heat spread across my face. I was just caught staring at my new T.A. Way to go Tris.

"Yes." My voice is quiet, shamed from staring. I should know better, it's rude.

The professor crosses his arms and eyes me funny. "I've already called roll. Everyone has had the chance to give me a different name than on the roster if they wish. Is there something other than your name listed that you want to be called?" My stage name comes to my head. No I can't possibly be called that! Why would I even think about being called that? I could go by Tris, but no that's for my friends only. But for some reason I want to give them all my nicknames. Well, it's not that I want to give them, but I want the T.A to know them, like I don't want secrets between us. That's ridiculous, why would I want that?!

"No. My name is fine." I say after swallowing the urge to tell them my name.

Again, the professor gives me an odd look. "Very well." Then he looks down at his chart. "Beatrice." I have to keep from cringing. I never really liked that name. Beatrice is the sixteen year old girl who lost her parents to the accident the whole city heard about. Maybe that's why the professor keeps looking at me funny. "Would you like to explain to the class why you're six minutes late to my class?"

Oh yeah I was late wasn't I? "I was talking to the professor in my last class and he asked me to stay late." I release a deep breath. Well at least that's one secret in the open. I honestly don't know how many more secrets I could keep. I'll need to talk to Christina after class. She's much better keeping secrets, but oddly also better at blurting them.

My eyes meet the professor's again, and he looks concerned this time. "It wouldn't happen to be Professor Thompson would it?"

I nod my head. "Yes it was." I can still feel his hands on my arms and it suddenly feels harder to breathe.

"That man loves to talk." He says easily, but I can detect a lie behind it. There's something he's not saying. I got to be almost an expert at reading people from my job, but I don't like the feeling I get from the professor. Not like the last one, but like he's keeping something from me that he doesn't want to say out loud. What could it be? "Don't be late next time."

"Yes sir." I say automatically. Then I feel silly. Why would I call him sir? He just looks like one I guess.

He huffs and waves his arms slightly. "What is with people calling me sir?" He addresses the whole class and not just me. But no one answers. I give a slight sigh of relief that the eyes of the room are not on me anymore. I know Christina will want to talk after class, she always seems to know when something is wrong with me. "Well then, my name is Amar Atwell. You may call me Professor Atwell, or Amar. I don't respond to Prof. Or sir. Alright?"

I can feel it in the room. It's like everyone gets the same idea, and we smile before it comes out. "Yes sir." We all say simultaneously. Amar looks completely dumbfounded. I feel a laugh bubble up from my chest. Everyone starts laughing then. But mine is short lived.

Laughing freely feels wrong. It feels out of place. I look down at my desk and don't meet anyone else's eyes. As the laughing dies down I pick my head back up to see if the lesson will begin, but my eyes are distracted. A small smile on the T.A causes me to look at him. It's like I can't help it. I'm drawn to him; this is dangerous. I can't develop feelings for anyone, let alone a T.A. If Eric found out I was seeing someone he would put me in the cage for a week.

Dancers can't have relationships outside the club. It's too dangerous.

The smile is gone from his face. Probably realizing that staring is rude. But he still looks confused, like he recognizes me. More heat in my face again. My blood begins to run rapidly through my veins. Why won't he stop looking at me?

Amar then gets back to the lesson. We mostly talk about the syllabus and the plan for the rest of the semester. The T.A keeps discretely looking over in my direction. I only know this because I'm keeping him in the corner of my eye just in case he recognizes me and I need to make a quick getaway.

When class is finally over, people begin to shuffle out. I look down to pack everything up. I'm done for the day. Well, except for working at the Pit. At least I don't have to dance tonight.

"Hey what's going on with you?" Christina is at my side before I can pick my head up and grab my bag.

"Nothing. Why?"

She glares at me. "You know I can tell when you're lying." Dammit.

"Not here." I say quietly and plead with her through my eyes. She seems to catch my drift and we walk out of the room. The T.A is still looking at me. He must think he's doing it discretely. Ha, he needs practice at it.

Christina and I walk down the hall and stairwell in silence, but as soon as we're outside, she's onto me. "What's going on?"

I can feel my face pale at the memory. "My editing professor knows who I am."

She gasps. "No way. Like he knows you from…?"

"Dauntless. Yes he knows who I am." I say almost breathlessly. "I don't know what to do. I can't drop the class because I need it for my major, and it's not offered for another year."

"You could always take the year off."

"You know Eric would chew me out if I did that."

"Beatrice!" A male voice calls from behind me.

"Later." Christina whispers to me, as I turn. I nod to her, then face him.

Robert. His brown hair has become more of a honey color from the summer sun. He worked his entire summer in the fields in the county. He has tanned skin and new muscle to show for it. I've always found him attractive, but never in the way that everyone thought I would.

"Hey Rob. How was class?" Christina asks.

He smiles kindly at her. "It was very nice. Thank you for asking Christina." He smiles politely as well. I don't think they've ever really liked each other that much, but they make an effort to get along for my sake.

Robert is our age, but he took a year of college level classes in high school of our senior so technically he's in his fourth year here. He's studying something in the Environmental Sciences department. Maybe agriculture or maybe a toxicology emphasis. Even if I'm good at sciences, I never really liked it.

"Well I've got to get to class." Christina looks at her phone.

"Which language are you mastering now?" Robert teases.

"I'm in my last semester of Russian." She says proudly. Christina has always had a talented tongue. As long as I've known her, she's always been learning new languages and wanting to learn more about each culture. Her father was from Kenya, but moved here when he was in his teens, so he taught her what he knew from his culture back home and their language. Her mother knew German, so she learned three languages growing up. She took more throughout her early schooling years, and now she can fluently speak about six languages; Swahili, German, English, Spanish, French, and Mandarin Chinese. Russian will make seven. Her advisors have called her a language prodigy. She learns them in half the time that others do. She was born to talk.

Robert looks impressed. "Good for you. I'm sure you'll master at least two more languages before you graduate."

"My goal is ten before I graduate."

He lets out a low whistle. She smirks. "Say something in one of them." He teases her. Why is it whenever you tell someone you can speak another language they automatically ask you to say something in it.

Christina and I both share this mutual look of understanding. Then she turns smiling. "See you later Tris."

"Come on Chrissy!" Robert presses her a smile on his face.

"Fous le camp." She flips him off as she walks away. I can't help but laugh at Robert's confused face. But he smiles with it and throws his arm around my shoulders. Christina has always liked to swear in French the most so I've begun to decode them.

"I can't tell if that was rude or not." He says comically. I continue laughing at him, like he's actually trying to figure it out. Then he gives up and smiles. "Where you headed?"

"Work. Need money to go to school."

"Ain't that the truth. I'll walk you there. I'm done for the day, and I'm not in a hurry to get back home."

This causes me to look at him with a confused look. "Susan told me you moved out over the summer. What could be so bad about going home to your own place?"

"My roommate. He isn't a bad guy by any means, but I think he likes boys the way most guys like girls."

Robert has never been one to judge people based on anything really, he's always been kind to everyone he meets, much like Susan. So this surprises me. "So he's homosexual. So what?"

"I get the feeling he hasn't come out yet, and he's been making advances towards me that I've gotten from girls before."

"Oh."

He sighs. "Yeah, I can live with it, but it's a little awkward."

"Just need to get used to it?"

He smiles then. "Yeah, I suppose so. Don't get me wrong, I really like the guy, but not _that_ way you know?"

I smile with him. "Yeah I get it. Don't worry. I'm sure it'll be fine. What's his name?"

"George. He's a few years older than us but he took a few years off before going to school. He's the same grade as me, but he's majoring in Physical Education."

I laugh a bit. "Maybe I'll see him. I'm minoring in Phys. Ed."

"Maybe. Let me know what you think of him, if my theories are correct I mean."

"Sure thing Rob."

We continue walking off campus and down two blocks in what is still considered "College Town" until we reach the Pit. It's not quite at the stage where it's crawling with students, and staff, but they'll come within the next hour or so. It's a popular place for students to hang out and grab sandwiches or cake. It's also a big first date place; this is my only kind of love life. I know it's creepy to live vicariously through strangers but I need something to keep me balanced.

The outside of the building is mostly gray concrete, but there are blue neon lights that rim the edge, and the sign, "The Pit" is in big black and red letters above the main entrance. Windows are lined with more blue lights. An "Open" sign hangs in one of the first windows. It's not much, but it's money.

I take comfort in the concrete walls of the building, it's solid and steady, unmoving. I don't like investing my time in things that aren't solid. I don't want to be attached to something, and then left alone again.

****I looked it up on google translate so it may not be right, but "foutre le camp" basically means "fuck off." If anyone reading this speaks French knows a more common way of saying it or if this is just completely wrong please let me know!**

**Please Review!****


	4. Chapter 4

****Hello there everybody! Yes I realize that this is a day late but please no rudeness. Not a whole lot to say in this author note update... umm, how about a little bit about myself?**

**My favorite color is orange.**

**Autumn is my favorite season.**

**I am a 90's baby.**

**I am female.**

**And it's sunny here but feels like 30 degrees outside and I really need to go mow the lawn, so I gotta bounce! Later gators! **

**Oh! And special thank you to Nanou13118 for being and awesome person and correcting me on my google translate french swearing!****

Tris POV

I clung to Caleb when our parents died. And he clung to me for a moment, before shutting out everyone and everything and pouring his life into his books. We've sent letters to each other, but neither of us have gone to visit the other since he left. It's been a long time since I've seen him.

Robert says goodbye to me at the employee entrance around back near the parking lot and then walks off to who knows where. Robert is notorious for walking around town without a clue of where he's going. He just likes to walk.

The first room I enter is the locker room, where I can change into my uniform, thankfully it's not as bad as my uniform at Dauntless. Here we still have to wear black. But we wear black and red. A pair of black pants with a dark red shirt. I snap my name tag "TRIS" into place and pull my hair back into a ponytail. Some of my hair falls out and frames my face, but I ignore it. I tie on my black apron, which isn't that big; just big enough for a pad of paper, a pen or two, some straws and napkins.

Mathew and David are our cooks. They're here full time. Matthew has always been nice and a good guy to talk to, but David I've always found kinda creepy. And I know this isn't a good thing but I take slight relief in the fact that he's always been extremely creepy towards Cara out of any of us.

Christina, Cara, Shauna, and I are waitresses. Lynn is the hostess, and the one who takes the bills, and Molly fills in when needed, though Max doesn't like to let her work the customers very much because she has a bad attitude when it comes to dealing with people who disagree with her or annoy her. She can be a bit of a hot head, much like Peter the Prick.

One of Eric's goons are always sitting in the back watching us, making sure no one handles us inappropriately. All of the guests here who are also guests at Dauntless know that if they see us in public, they are not to address us by our stage names or even mention the club. No one is let in unless they are invited by a member. And if any member breaks the code and calls us out in public, they are banned from the club and will most likely have a target on their back from Max and his men.

Harrison is back there today. He's just sitting in one of the back booths, sipping coffee and reading the newspaper, or so it seems. Though he's not the only one keeping an eye on us. Max or Eric are probably watching the footage from the security cameras lined all over the building right now to make sure we stay in line. They like to get here before the cops if something happens.

It's just Shauna and me working when we open. Technically it's just Shauna since we open at 4pm. I get here on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays at 4:30. Cara will get here at 5pm, and Christina will get here at 6pm. Lynn is here sometime between 4:30 and 5pm. She and Max have some kind of mutual understanding that she'll get there between those times and not to push her on it. How she got him to agree to it, I have no idea. But I imagine it has something to do with performing free acts for him in private time.

Eric would never let me have that much freedom. He has me a tight leash. At times it feels tighter than everyone else's, but I know better than to ask for time off. We all do.

Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays are the days I dance so I'm out of there by 9:45pm and on my way to the club. All the other days except for Sundays I'm here till 3am when it closes, just like the club. Thankfully the club and the diner are both closed Sundays so we all get a day off.

It's not usually busy until 5ish, so I'm not surprised to see only a handful of people here.

"Hey Tris. How was class?" Shauna asks, sleep still apparent in her eyes. She's not in school anymore so she has been taking care of her neighbors kids from 10am to 3pm. She and Tori are the only dancers not in school, and if you're not in school, you tend to get transferred. Dauntless is only a club that likes to display younger women. Educated women tend to go to Erudite, to escort and converse with the high made CEO's of the city. Having an education makes the experience more pleasurable for the men or women who come. Cara will probably go there. Candor receives the next grouping of educated dancers. Christina is likely to be transferred there in the next few years. Abnegation tends to receive the slightly educated women. Amity receive women with or without education, but those who can be family friendly. I have a feeling this is where Shauna will be transferred. Tori would have been transferred to Erudite a few years ago, but she's so good here that Max kept her.

"It was fine." I decide not to tell her about creepy Mr. Thompson. Having Christina know is enough.

I go to setting up the display at the front counter when the bell rings at the front door, signaling that someone has entered. We have the sign up that says "Please Seat Yourselves" since Lynn is not here yet.

"Tris, that's your table." Shauna says to me as she's grabbing food from Matthew.

"Alright." I sigh as I push myself to my feet and grab my notepad and some menus. I turn to head towards the table when I freeze. Why did it have to be him?

Edward sits at the table, smiling at me. He's just a year or so older than me, and a regular at the club. His blonde hair is like a flame drawing in moths to their death. His icy blue eyes remind me so much of Eric, yet they're not even related.

"Hello Ra-"

"You know the rules Edward." I almost spit at him. "I'm Tris here. You call me by that name and you won't get let in to Dauntless anymore." I whisper in a harsh tone.

This makes him smile harder. "I know, I just like to tease you that's all." He reaches up and plays with the end of my pony which has fallen over my shoulder.

I set the menu down on his table. "Do you know what you want or do you need a minute?" Being a regular here, I have a feeling I'll know what he's going to order, but people can surprise you.

"Same as always honey bee."

Smiling at him like I'm supposed to, I take the menu and suppress a growl. I walk back behind the counter and momentarily out of sight from his gaze. Shauna is chatting with Matt. When she sees me coming her face drops.

"Tris I'm so sorry. If I had known that it was him I would have traded tables with you." Then she smiles. "I still could if you want! You can take my next customer and I'll take him."

"Is it Edward?" Matt asks. I nod. "Ew, sorry Tris. I thought Eric told him to stop coming around."

I sigh. "No, he only told him to stop coming around if he gets handsy with me in the diner. At the club it's a free for all as long as he pays. He almost used my stage name."

"Ouch." Matt says looking between us. He doesn't dance, but he's been working for Max for a long time and knows all about our night time jobs. "He could get thrown out for that."

Shauna looks more awake, and sounds a little pissed. "Only because Max doesn't want us to draw attention to ourselves in the day time. If we do that, we could get in trouble and then he could lose us as dancers."

"Except he's more worried about losing money from losing us rather than our well-being." I add in.

They both nod their heads in agreement.

The front bell rings again and we hear two men sit at one of the tables towards the front door. Shauna's section. She walks by us grabbing some menus and her notepad. When she comes back just a minute later her eyes are wide and her face is red.

"What's wrong?"

"It's him…" She says then she giggles like a school girl. Matt and I share a look before looking back at her. Has she finally lost it?

"Who's him?" Matt asks.

"Go see for yourself." She has a large smile on her face as she shrinks to the floor. I need to bring Edward his coke anyway.

I walk out in the opposite direction of Shauna's table that's making her giggle, and towards Edward. I set the coke on his table, but he grabs my wrist before I can leave.

"Will I see you tonight?" He asks quietly.

"You know my schedule better than anyone Edward. Tonight is my night off."

"That doesn't answer my question." He smiles a snakelike smile.

"No. I'm here all night. I'm not coming to see you nor will I ever." I smile politely then turn back to go to the counter while taking a glance at the table by the door.

Two young men sit at the table by the window. One with darker skin and black hair that is so shaggy it's hitting his neck. He does look quite attractive I'll give him that, and he wears an easy smile showing off his white teeth. He laughs loudly and frequently and looks like he knows how to have fun. I can't see the face of the other man, but he has dark brown hair, much shorter than the first but still hanging slightly in his eyes. They both wear black jackets, but the one with darker skin is wearing faded old jeans as opposed to the other man who is wearing a much dressier pair.

I walk back behind the counter. "Who is he? And which one?"

She gawks at me. "Every story I've ever told you about him, and you don't recognize him?" Her voice becomes smaller, like a child.

I shrug my shoulders. "Sorry."

Shauna peeks back around the corner. Then turns back to us. "The one with the longer dark hair. Ezekiel Pedrad. Zeke!"

"Oh, that guy is Zeke?" I ask her in a little disbelief. He's much cuter than I thought.

Shauna's favorite past time has been telling us of her childhood, at least the happy part when her parents were still alive. In almost every single one of her stories, she talks about a little boy with chocolate colored skin named Zeke. Or at least then, she called him Zeezee. His mother would babysit them since their parent's houses were right next to each other and his mother worked from home. He was just a few months older than her so they did everything together. Then the two of them turned to four, when his younger brother and her younger sister, Lynn, was born. Then five when Shauna's brother was born.

Her favorite story to tell is one where they were crossing the street to go to school, Zeke's mother having just dropped them off when a car came zooming by and almost took her out, but six year old Zeke pulled her out of the way just in time. Then Zeke proceeded scold her in the best way a six year old could; by bunching his pudgy fists together and waving them around in the same manner as his mother, yelling "Shauna Rickard watch where you going." Even though when they were younger, she said he said her name more like Sauna.

Around the time when she was 7 or 8 years old, Zeke's family reportedly moved away without any notice or hint at where they were going.

Now he's back

"Did he recognize you?" Matt asks.

Her smile disappears. "No. He didn't. And I even told them my name."

"Maybe he's high." Matt suggests laughing to himself.

Shauna smacks him upside the head. If there's one thing Shauna will not tolerate, it's drugs.

"He wouldn't do that." She says sternly.

"You can't say that for certain though. You haven't seen him in what, 15 years?" I ask calmly.

"So?"

"So isn't it possible that he's changed from what you knew him as?"

She thinks it over. Then she releases a tired sounding sigh. She nods her head, but I can see that she doesn't want to believe that he's changed. She's still holding onto the little 8 year old boy she grew up with. Her confidant and best friend. When I look at Shauna in this moment, I see Susan in future years, seeing Caleb again for the first time. He won't know who she is and she'll be hanging onto the boy who left.

"TRIS? WHERE'S MY FOOD?!" Edward's voice carries through the whole place.

I groan and Matthew hands me the plate of food.

Shauna seems to snap out of her funk and gets drinks for Zeke and his friend. I walk from behind the counter and walk straight towards Edward. I know that a few of the eyes in the diner are on me, including Edward's. He smiles at me in a way that makes me slightly nauseous. I set his food down softly on the table, even though I'd like to dump it on his head.

"Thank you Tris." He says sweetly.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" I ask as nicely as I can muster.

"No thank you. Not yet anyway." He says the last part as a double innuendo, in a hushed voice so that only I can hear.

I withhold a grimace, and try not to stomp back behind the counter, not before running into Harrison. "It's noting I can't handle." I say simply to him. He backs off but keeps a close eye on Edward.

"Tris, the guy sitting with Zeke knows you." Shauna says when she gives Matt the guys at her table's order.

I pale at this. Enough people know me. "What do you mean he knows me?"

She waves her hand. "Not from Dauntless. From school. Says he's in one of your classes."

"That's not creepy." Matt says in a suspicious manner while layering meat on a sandwich. "Did he want anything?"

"No. He was commenting to Zeke that he knew her when I walked over." Shauna says to him. Her head drops sadly out of the fact that he still doesn't recognize her.

Matt groans. "Enough of this." Then he slams a pan on the floor making a loud noise, causing us both to jump back. "SHAUNA RICKARD WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" He yells to no one in particular.

Everything in the diner goes silent.

"Why did you do that?" Shauna whispers angrily at Matt, who is smiling to himself like nothing just happened.

"You wanted him to remember you. Maybe he just needed a push." Her face turns red and I have to stifle laughter. "Order up." He sets their orders on the counter in front of Shauna, who is fuming at him.

Matt and I both crane our necks around the counter opening and watch as Shauna delivers their food. She's about to turn around when the boy, Zeke grabs her hand, his eyes wide. Within seconds they're both laughing and hugging. He's introducing Shauna to the other boy, who apparently knows me, but I still can't see his face.

"Who are you guys spying on?" Lynn's voice catches us off guard as she walks into our area.

"Do you remember a guy named Zeke?" Matt asks.

Lynn thinks for a moment, then nods. "Yeah, we grew up with a Zeke. But then he left. I was 5 years old so I don't remember him super well. But I know who he is."

"He's out there right now. Shauna recognized him." I say motioning with my head towards the front table.

She turns immediately out into the seating area and stands there in shock watching.

"Lynn! It's Zeke!" Shauna cries excitedly when she spots her little sister. Lynn walks over to them and she and Zeke embrace in a short hug.

I begin to move around and help some others who recently came into the diner.

"You gals certainly grew up." The guy named Zeke says, a smile in his voice.

"Same could be said about you." Lynn says back. "How long has it been?"

"Just over 15 years." Shauna says too quickly. Her cheeks red with happiness. She's gigging too. We almost never hear Shauna giggle. She laughs sure, but giggle, no.

I smile at the sound. It's nice to fill this place with the sound of laughter.

"Shauna, Lynn, this is my best friend, Four."

I freeze. It couldn't possibly be. Why him? Why couldn't it be some guy from the back of one of my classes? Not the guy who's a T.A in my class. Not the guy who saw me trip and fall into the room late, and continued to stare at me. I'm done for. If he's actually a decent guy and he finds out what I really do, he's going to report it or try and get me help by talking to my boss. That's a good way to get him killed. And not to mention the repercussions I'm going to suffer. I would be dancing without pay or tips for the next month. Or worse, I could be transferred to the Gutter.

"Normally there's five of us working out here, but right now it's just Lynn, Tris and I." Please don't tell them more about me Shauna. "Lynn and Tris are still in school but I graduated last year." Stick to yourself. "Lynn is going into Human Resources and Tris is going into Creative Writing, though we all think she could be some big science geek if she wanted." Shut it Shauna. "She's really smart when it comes to that kind of thing. She helped me with my chemistry homework when she wasn't even in it." Hush. Your. Mouth. "She's right over there." I can feel their eyes on me. "Tris! Come over and meet new people." Dammit Shauna. "She's usually pretty shy so I have to get her to talk to people." That's only partially the truth. Beatrice is shy. Raven is outgoing. Tris is somewhere in between.

I look up, pretending to only just be hearing her. I finish taking the customer's order and walk over to them.

"Zeke, Four, this is Tris."

"Nice to meet you Tris." Zeke extends his hand. They're both standing now. I thought Zeke would be taller, but he's just barely over Shauna's height at 5'8". Four on the other hand is towering above me. He can't be any shorter than six feet. I'm barely 5'5" when I'm not in heels. The towering height makes me shiver, because it reminds me of Eric.

"Nice to meet you too." I say politely.

Four doesn't extend his hand to me. I'm about to comment on it, but Zeke butts in. "Four doesn't shake hands. He's got some weird fear about it."

"I do not." Four says sternly.

"Do too."

"Do not."

"Then shake her hand." Zeke challenges smirking.

Four glares at him. At first glance I would say he's intimidating, but now I'm not so sure.

"Do you have a fear of germs or something?" Lynn asks.

"No." He doesn't elaborate. He actually looks rather uncomfortable talking about this topic. I can be nice. Even if the universe can't.

"It's fine. Let's just drop the subject okay?" I butt in. Zeke shrugs his shoulders, Lynn looks stonewall, and Shauna looks confused. Four looks almost grateful, but I must be imagining it. I excuse myself to go back to work and soon Lynn does the same. Shauna stays and talks for a little while longer before finally coming back to work when it starts to get busy. Christina has showed up now. Cara too. Soon the place is bouncing and loud like we know it to be.

"Tris, I'm leaving. Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?" Edward's voice rings out. My face turns red and my knuckles white. I grit my teeth and turn to him. Shauna gives me an apologetic look. I wave her off and walk over to the door.

"Leave Edward. NOW." I growl at him.

He smiles wide. "I love it when you talk to me that way." Then he turns to leave. "See you tomorrow night." My blood pressure is through the roof.

Zeke and Four leave after a while. But before they go, Zeke makes it apparent to Shauna that they need to catch up sometime soon. They agree to meet on Sunday. Zeke was pushing for tomorrow night, and Shauna tried to tell him that she's busy but he seemed so anxious to talk to her. I watched them carefully and when Zeke asked what she was doing tomorrow night I walked into their conversation.

"She's going to be at my apartment. Girls' night you know. Friday night we're working. Then Saturday a bunch of us are getting together to watch a movie, girls only though." I say as casually as I can. "You guys should go out Sunday."

Shauna blushes, and Zeke stammers. "Well we'll hang out, right? Going out sounds so much like a date."

"Yeah of course." Shauna laughs nervously. I hope she's not getting any ideas.

Four is waiting by the door, watching us carefully. I can't decide if him watching us like that is a good thing or a bad thing. Sure it's kind of creepy like when any guy stares. Although, his staring seems almost comforting, like a watchful protector. Not that I need protecting or anything. That's just a ridiculous thought. I can take care of myself just fine. Right?

The bell on the door rings when they leave, and I turn to Shauna. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing." She says anxiously. She's always been a horrible liar.

"Shauna, you know you can't get involved with a guy. Max will kill you, and then throw you to the Gutter. Literally."

"Shut up Tris. It's none of your business anyway."

"None of my business? Shauna, if you get hurt and I knew I could have stopped it, that is completely my business. I'm just trying to help you." I plead with her quietly as to avoid drawing attention to ourselves.

"Then help me get out."

I sigh. We all want out. "Shauna…"

She huffs, knowing what I'm going to say. We've all said it to her at some point over the last year. She doesn't want to hear it. I don't want to say it. But it's dangerous to talk like this, and she's not getting that we are screwed to this business for life. Or at least until Max decides our life is over.

Tears are pricking at the corners of her eyes. "I just want this to be over with. Just, everything to be done."

"You know Max is never going to let you go."

"We can run away."

"He'll find us."

"No he won't."

"Wanna bet?"

We've moved behind the counter now, and tears are freely falling down her face. She leans against the wall and slides down it, hugging her knees to her chest. "I hate it here."

"So do I." I sit down next to her. "Right now we don't really have a choice."

"We always have a choice." She continues to mutter the word 'always' to herself.

"You stay here, I'll take your tables." I say standing. She doesn't even acknowledge me.

Harrison is standing by the edge of the counter, eyeing Shauna suspiciously. "She's not feeling well." I lie easily to him. He grunts and goes back to his seat.

We finish the night in a calm vibe. I finish the little bit of homework I have. Christina eventually joined us and got to work helping me with Shauna's tables. She eventually pulls herself together, after about an hour. Matt and I don't bring up Zeke anymore. Christina knows I'm keeping something from her, but I mouth the word "Later" to her and she understands. We're all on camera's here. Max could be watching our every step. No one mentions the horrible life we're living. No one brings up the idea of leaving Max.

****I'm thinking the next chapter might be Four's POV, but haven't fully decided yet. Let me know what you think! Please Review!****


	5. Chapter 5

**GUESS WHO'S BACK!? AHAHAHA hello everyone! Soooo terribly sorry for my absence but I had to finish my novel for NaNoWriMo! Still need to come up with a name for it though… I have some ideas, but can't decide. Tell me which one(s) sound most interesting to you guys!**

**A bit of background for you: the main character's younger sister is murdered in the summer and a whole butt load of secrets surround the family that are slowly uncovered. Rachel – the main character – has foggy green eyes that were supposed to be brighter green, like her murdered sister's. Summer storms are very common in this place and they live in a class system. Lower, Middle and Upper Class. Rachel is in the Middle Class.**

**A Sister's Scream**

**Fog and Green**

**Summer Storm**

**Summer Scream**

**Natural Storm**

**Natural Secrets**

**I'm not set on any of these by any means but if you guys want to contribute, the more the merrier!**

**To address some reviews: **

**ZariTheAtari – "****Great Chapter I love it! And the Zeke and Shaina thing is very good. But I thought Edward didn't like Tris. But whatever it's you fanfiction"**

_**I know I changed it around a bit, but like you said, it's my fanfiction **__** And he is going to be a key player in future chapters. Drama to come!**_

**Emma . Andrea – "****I like the different POV's, but please don't do the same events in both Tris and Fours POV (like chapter 2&3). I got kind of dissapointed when I had to read the same thing twice from different angels. You could always just have them think about what happened and what they think about it."**

_**I'm sorry it wasn't what you were expecting, however I find it very interesting to write from different POV's in the same situations. I won't always do it, but I like to do it to give more background on the person. I think it rounds characters out so we get to experience their thoughts on certain things as well. If you really don't like it then skip this chapter because this is Four's POV of Chapter 4. I can tell you though that the next three chapters or so will not be like this. Happy reading!**_

**Blueraspbery-butterflies – "Four POV would be awesome! Could there be a little Christina/Will and Uriah/Marlene in the next chapter?"**

_**In this chapter unfortunately no, but I have introduced Uriah in one of the next chapters. Marlene will come in after that and I fully intend to keep Uriah/Marlene together. Will/Christina will be added as well but in future chapters.**_

**Madem Pedrad - "****This fic is AMAZING! I love the way you can describe everything! You are obviously a natural born writer! Please continue this fic! BTW if you can could you make an OC of me? I really REALLY love Uriah and usually people have him automatically with Mar. I would love you forever (which I already do because you wrote this crazy original fic)!"**

_**Unfortunately I love the Marlene/Uriah combo so it won't be happening. However… I could make an OC of you in my story **__** just send me via PM some details about your character – if you want to be an ex-flame of Uriah's, or maybe Uriah's crazy stalker that could work too – and I'll see what I can do. **_

**Guest – "when is her boob and butt job gonna come in? you said that her "boyish" appearance would be changed."**

_**Have a little faith in me. I like to work up to things and not jump right in, it's only Chapter 5. If it makes you feel any better I have already written that chapter and it will come in the next few weeks.**_

**Anyway, here is the next chapter! And yes, it is in Four's POV! Yayy! The next will be Tris, and I do have another Four POV written but am not sure if I'm going to add a small Tris in between or not. **

**Four's POV**

I meet Zeke at the Pit shortly after 4:30. It's a small little shop but very popular among students. I've never been here before, since social events aren't really my thing, but I could see myself coming back.

He's waiting just outside the front doors wearing dark faded jeans and a black jacket. Similar outfit to mine, except mine is definitely dressier. The joys of being a T.A.

"Come on man, I'm starving." He claps me on the back, I wince, and we walk inside. He knows I don't like to be touched, especially there. There's a small sign that says Seat Yourself. Among the choices of tables and booths, Zeke sits down at a table right next to the door. I wonder for a moment if he picked this spot strategically so if anything bad went down we could make a quick getaway. He's been known to get in trouble.

"You ever been here before?" I ask him picking up the menu.

"Just a few times over the summer. The waitresses are hot, let me tell you." He's smiling. That would be the first thing he notices about a place. I roll my eyes slightly, just as our waitress comes up. She's pretty, that's for sure. Brown hair, just above her shoulders, and hazel eyes with flecks of gold.

"Hi there, welcome to the Pit, my name is Shauna. Is there anything I can start you guys off with?" She smiles at both of us, but her eyes widen a bit when she looks over at Zeke. He's not even looking at her, he's looking at the menu.

"I'll take a water, and the Initiate Burger." I say to her. She smiles kindly at me, but not in a way like I get from most girls.

"Pansycake." Zeke snorts at me. "I'll have a water too, and the full Pit Burger with extra bacon."

She looks at him a little too long, and he still doesn't notice. "Sure." She says and walks off.

I give Zeke a look and clear my throat so he looks up at me.

"What's with the face?" He asks me.

"You're more in tune with this subject than I am, but she was definitely looking at you."

"The waitress?"

"Yes the waitress."

Zeke looks around to where she disappeared to, but he still doesn't say anything. A small frown on his face. "Shauna was her name right?" I nod. "That name sounds really familiar." He bows his head and looks at the table with intent.

"TRIS? WHERE'S MY FOOD?!" A male voice carries through the whole place. We both look up to where it came from. A guy, probably a year or so younger than us sits at a table with a full view of wherever the waitress Shauna went. He has blonde hair, and cold eyes that for a moment remind me of my father.

That's when she walks out. Her blonde hair is up in a pony, and she's wearing the same clothes as Shauna. It must be a uniform. But the name Tris? I thought her name was Beatrice. She's carrying a plate of food and sets it down on his table. She doesn't look happy. I'm itching to get out of my seat just to go over and talk to her. That itch is intensified when the guy reaches for her, where he was aiming I'm not sure, but he went to grab her. Small amounts of adrenaline rush through me.

Shauna is at our table again with our waters.

"The food will be up shortly." She says smiling. Again, she focusing her attention on Zeke. Her eyes seem to be pleading with him.

Zeke just watches her, but seems to ignore his own thoughts. "Four, do you know her?"

"Who?"

"The other waitress. You're watching her like you recognize her."

Tris looks angry, but she says something softly to the guy and then stomps off back towards the counter.

Shauna turns back to us. "Do you know Tris?" She directs the question at me.

"I think she's in one of my classes at the University." I say simply.

She nods a little. "I'll go grab your food for you." Then she walks off.

As soon as she's out of sight Zeke tugs on my sleeve. "I swear Four, I know her from somewhere. It's on the tip of my tongue, I just can't place her."

"She's pretty."

He smiles. "So is that Tris girl." A light color runs to my cheeks.

"I don't know what you mean."

"And I call bullshit."

Before I can say anything in my defense, a loud crashing sound comes from the kitchen.

"SHAUNA RICKARD WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" Yells a male voice, but it's not an angry yell nor is it a shocked yell. That was a calculated move for reasons beyond me.

Zeke seems to come alive. "Shauna?" He mumbles her name over and over to himself.

She comes out from around the corner with our food and her head hung low. She's embarrassed and this time around she looks at Zeke as little as possible.

"Is there anything else I can get you?" She asks quietly. I shake my head, and Zeke is still mumbling to himself. Shauna looks a little deflated when she does look over at him. She knows him. She turns to leave when Zeke's hand flies out and grabs her wrist. Their eyes lock, and I swear it's a scene out of one of the cheesy romance movies you'd find down at the video store.

"Shauna?" He asks.

"Hi Zeke." She smiles. For a moment I thought he was going to kiss her with that look in his eyes. Instead he pulls her into a hug. Soon they're both laughing and talking a million miles per hour. I try to drown them out by looking out the window. I'm not used to happy reunions like this and I'd be lying if I said I liked to listen to them.

"This is my best friend Four." Zeke's voice catches my attention.

The girl Shauna nods to me, unable to contain the smile on her face. "Nice to meet you Four." She doesn't even question my name. Maybe she's alright. She's about to hold out her hand to shake mine, but I cringe away. I don't shake hands. I don't like people touching me period. Zeke knows my past, but wouldn't dare mention it to anyone, so he's resorted to telling everyone I'm germ-a-phobic.

"Lynn! It's Zeke!" Shauna is crying excitedly and waving another girl over. Practically a younger version of Shauna but her hair is cut extremely short on top and completely shaved on the sides. I don't see many girls with that hairstyle.

Zeke Shauna, and apparently Lynn who is Shauna's younger sister, continue to talk. But out of the corner of my eye, I watch as Beatrice… Tris, moves around the diner easily and quickly helping many others. Some are probably Shauna's customers, yet she's helping them and letting Shauna reunite with Zeke. Very selfless of her. Her blonde hair bounces in her ponytail. I can't tear my eyes away and I don't know why.

"Shauna, Lynn, this is my best friend Four." He gestures to me again. Shauna makes some comment that he already introduced her to me, but Lynn is staring at me like I'm crazy.

"Four?" She asks, some humor hiding in her voice.

"Yes. Problem?"

She shakes her head, a stern look on her face. "Not at all."

Shauna's voice begins to carry over the diner. "Normally there's five of us working out here, but right now it's just Lynn, Tris and I. Lynn and Tris are still in school but I graduated last year. Community college." She looks back at Zeke. "Lynn is going into Human Resources and Tris is going into Creative Writing, though we all think she could be some big science geek if she wanted." I glance over at Tris who to anyone else would appear to be working hard, but I can tell she's listening in. Her shoulders tense at the sound of her name. "She's really smart when it comes to that kind of thing. She helped me with my chemistry homework when she wasn't in it." Interesting. "She's right over there. Tris! Come over and meet new people." Tris is really tense right now, but she looks over with a false confused face as though she _just_ now heard Shauna talking about her. She doesn't look happy. Her mouth is kept in tight line to prevent any real emotion from showing. "She's usually pretty shy so I have to get her to talk to new people." I can see that, though I feel kind of bad for her being thrust into situations she doesn't want to be in. It's not a bad thing to be antisocial.

Tris walks over slowly, each step a little tenser.

"Zeke, Four, this is Tris."

Her blue-gray eyes are stormy, flashing between Zeke and myself, but she lingers on me. She recognizes me.

"Nice to meet you." She says politely shaking Zeke's hand and then turning to me. She looks at me expectantly and looks like she's about to open her mouth, when Zeke cuts in.

"Four doesn't shake hands. He's got some weird fear about it." Here we go.

"I do not."

"Do too."

"Do not." I almost growl at him.

"Then shake her hand." He smirks. It's just part of the act I know, but it's still frustrating.

"Do you have a fear of germs or something?" Lynn asks looking at me with a small smirk on her face. She's making fun of me.

"No." I say sternly.

"It's fine. Let's just drop the subject okay?" Tris's voice carries even if she doesn't mean for it to. It's soft, but firm. I can feel my face soften at her words and she locks eyes with me. I give her a small nod as if to say thank you.

She excuses herself then to tend to other customers. Lynn eventually goes back to work as well, but Shauna remains within arms distance of Zeke. If he can't tell that this girl is head over heels for him then he deserves a slap upside the head.

We finally do sit down to eat when the place gets busier. The food is good I'll give them that.

"Tris, I'm leaving. Aren't you going to kiss me goodbye?" A voice rings out. Zeke and I turn to the door and stare at the blonde guy from earlier who grabbed at Tris.

She stomps through the diner, most eyes on her as the guy stands there smirking. "Leave Edward. NOW." She growls at him. Saying that her growling is hot would be an understatement. My face instantly heats up and I look away from that area. Keeping my head down so Zeke can't see it.

"I love it when you talk to me that way. See you tomorrow night." He says then leaves.

Tomorrow night? They couldn't be together, could they? Maybe he'll just be back at the diner tomorrow and that's what he means.

I glance up to watch her stomp back into the kitchen. Even Zeke looks a little concerned. But then Shauna brings him a slice of chocolate cake and all is well.

He starts to ask her out and Shauna is stumbling for an answer. I thought she would say yes in a heartbeat. He's pushing for tomorrow night, but it makes her stumble even more. I'm standing by the door waiting for Shauna to answer so that Zeke and I can leave. Not that I'm in a hurry or anything, but I do have some things to look over for my classes tomorrow.

"She's going to be at my apartment. Girls' night you know. Friday we're working. Then Saturday a bunch of us are getting together to watch a movie, girls only though." Tris to the rescue. I watch them carefully. "You guys should go out on Sunday." She offers, in a tone that could pass as happy. It looks as though both girls are walking on glass, one wrong step could hurt them. What are they hiding?

"Well, we'll hang out right? Going out sounds so much like a date." Zeke stammers a little. I never hear him stammer.

"Yeah of course." Shauna laughs nervously.

Oh brother.

I roll my eyes slightly, and continue to watch the interaction between Tris and Shauna. Something is not adding up.

Zeke and I leave shortly after and he is happier than I've seen him in a while.

I elbow him in the gut and he looks hurt. "What was that for?"

"Did you drag me here on purpose so you could get the guts to ask her out?"

"What? No."

"You said you had been here over the summer." I say getting into my car. He climbs into the passenger seat.

"She wasn't working when I went! Honestly!"

I eye him skeptically.

"What about you and that Tris girl?"

Now I look away. I shouldn't have, because now he knows something is stirring around in my head. "She's in one of my classes, that's it."

He laughs, happy to have the attention off of him. "Sure. Whatever you say. I see something there, mark my words Four."

"Whatever you say Zeke."

***Please review!***


	6. Chapter 6

****Hello hello hello everyone! Again thank you so much for the patience while I was away. I should remain on track for the next handful of chapters because I don't foresee any upcoming events really that would block my ability to update.**

**One of you lovely reviewers brought up a very important point that I would like to bring up. The idea that Tris needs to be a bigger size in the chest, have more hips or whatever to look more womanly. I am in NO WAY trying to say that a bigger chest and better curves makes one female more feminine than the other. Personally, I am a B cup (sometimes a C depending on the style of bra) and have very little hip curve, but I love my body! Everyone is unique and their own person, so whether or not you have an A cup, or a DD cup, you are beautiful! This is just my story and I am involving some body alterations – however, they are a little different than just flat out implants. I hope no one was offended by my plan to alter Tris's body.**

**Special thank you to nana924 for bringing up this important topic!**

**And for those of you hoping for some FourTris action, there isn't really any in this chapter, but come on and give me some time. I want this to be a multi chapter story so I need to build up to things. If you're impatient, then that's unfortunate. I can guarantee you that there is some tension between the two to come – I've already written some for future chapters!****

**Tris POV**

Christina and I are both bent over panting at the end of our first Phys. Ed class. We had to run three miles in 25 minutes or less. We will do this every Thursday until every single person in the class can run three miles in 20 minutes or less. Working out and being in shape is what my life is all about right now, but running for no reason other than to beat a time is not my cup of tea. Christina beat me over the finish line by two seconds. Granted we were the first females in the class to finish, we were still tired.

"That was more of a three mile sprint if you ask me." Christina says as we walk back to the locker room.

"That's because you're timed. It's more stressful that way, making it feel worse than it actually is." A male voice says from behind us. We both turn around and come face to face with a male version of Tori. Younger, but still older than us. Mocha skin with midnight hair, even their amber brown eyes are the same. "You guys were really good out there." He smiles at us. "I'm George."

Christina and I share a look, both knowing exactly who he is.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Christina, and this is my best friend Beatrice."

He shakes our hands politely. "Pleased to meet your acquaintance Christina and Beatrice." Then he smiles almost shyly. "Are you guys majoring in Phys. Ed or just taking the class to stay in shape?"

"We're minoring in it." Chris says.

"Excellent! Well I'll see you guys around. I'm the T.A for this class since this is my major. Have a good day." Then he excuses himself and I swear he grimaces before going into the men's locker room.

"Well he was nice." Christina says as we begin to change.

Wait a minute. Robert said he had a roommate majoring in Phys. Ed. George. Oh. "I think that was Robert's new roommate."

"Really? I would totally go into saying how cute he is, but seeing as he's Tori's brother that might get a little inappropriate."

"Robert thinks he's gay."

Christina laughs lightly. "I can see that. Oh well, whatever makes him happy."

We go back to the locker room and begin to strip for a short shower.

"Ready for tonight?" Christina calls to me from the shower stall next door.

"Oh totally." I call back in a slightly sarcastic tone.

I hear her laughing. Eric said there was going to be something new tonight, so we had to be to Dauntless early to hear about it. To be perfectly honest, I'm a little nervous. Whenever Eric has something planned, it's generally for his benefit, not ours.

We finish changing back into our clothes, which is mostly just sweats or old jeans because this is our only class Tuesdays and Thursdays. We have 2 hours before the diner opens at 4pm and then onto Dauntless tonight before 10pm. A shiver runs through me at the thought of seeing Edward again tonight. Doing anything he can to reserve me for private dances is really beginning to scare me, but there's nothing I can do about it. As long as he doesn't physically hurt me and keeps paying, Eric is more than happy to keep him coming in. He's been getting handsier and bolder when it comes to asking for me. I wouldn't go so far as to say that Max "pimps" us out. We don't do anything sexual really. That's more the Gutter style, as long as the girl doesn't get hurt. But I am concerned that if Edward keeps the money coming, Eric will give him more freedom with me. That is something I do not want.

Peter has been getting off watching us for free recently too. He'll find peep holes in the dancing rooms and watch as we make guys who pay happy.

Deciding to take a short nap before tonight goes down, Christina and I go back to our apartment and turn out the lights. We need this sometimes, so we make sure to have black curtains on the windows to expel as much light as possible.

I crash onto my bed after laying out my clean Pit uniform.

I hear Christina snoring before my eyes flutter closed.

_We're in the middle of Dauntless, dancing it up. Music blaring, drums pounding, men cheering. I live for this. They throw money at me faster than I can keep track. Eric's laugh sounds out from the rafters above where there's a special viewing platform only Gold Members know about; the ones who pay the most and come the most. _

_I see Christina dry humping a guy in the audience, while some other guy pours vodka down her open mouth._

_Lynn is over on one of the side wall poles doing acrobatic things that are beyond me. Shauna is on the opposite wall keeping up with her younger sister easily. _

_Tori is swinging from a rope around the entire place._

_Everyone is cheering. The noise is deafening. _

_Then all the lights go out. There is no noise. No air to breathe. I'm confined inside a small dark box. I try to move my head and squint my eyes to get some glance at my surroundings, but it's nothing. _

_The lights come on. I'm not in Dauntless any more. I'm in a room, with a golden floor, and mirrors for walls. Copies of Raven stare back at me, some of them are confused, some are laughing manically, some are scared, some are brave. Then the floor and the ceiling become mirrors as well. I'm everywhere. No, Raven is everywhere. But this is not the Raven I'm used to. This Raven is older, curvier, and her hair is real. Suddenly all the Ravens are smiling at me, but their smile reminds me of Eric. Its uncomforting. _

"_Help me!" My voice cries, but I didn't speak. _

_All the Ravens and myself look towards the source of the voice. Standing with no reflection of her own, is a girl, age sixteen maybe. She has ashy blonde hair and sad smoky blue eyes. She's crying. No tattoo on her collarbone. Blood on her hands. _

"_Help me please!" My voice cries again. _

_I shouldn't help her. It's her fault her parents died. That's why her brother left her. Her fault. Her fault._

_No, it wasn't! There was no way of knowing what would have happened!_

_She's the one who got scared and begged them to come home early. If she had been brave, they would still be alive!_

_She didn't know!_

_It was her fault!_

_All of the Raven's begin laughing, I'm laughing. That pathetic excuse of a girl died a long time ago. Only Raven remains._

_I watch as the girl's body begins to contort in odd directions. Her hair darkens to the color of night. She grows another inch or so. Fills out only slightly. Raven tattoos appear on her collarbone, and her eyes are darkened by heavy makeup. Soon, she begins to laugh too. We are all laughing._

My alarm wakes me up. My body is covered in a light layer of sweat, and I'm out of breath like I just ran stairs or did Eric's favorite routine twice without a break. He likes to have two or three girls give a private dance in room 1, the biggest private room, to new first time members for 70% off. He calls it the Initiate Dance. It's slow, erotic, and then speeds up towards the end. Guaranteed to keep them coming back.

I can hear the water running in the bathroom. Christina is already up. It wasn't a long rest, but it was much needed. We have a half hour before we need to be to the Pit.

My arms shake slightly as I put on my uniform and pin my nametag in place.

That was not a pleasant dream.

I know it's not my fault they died, but sometimes it really does feel like it is. My decisions are what caused them to get into their car and drive home. I was sixteen, I would have been fine.

Remembering that night is no problem, but it's something I don't wish to do often. Caleb blamed me. I know he did, even if he never said it out loud. He hated me for it. That's why he left. He couldn't bear to look at me. Seeing my mother's blonde hair and father's gray blue eyes. He didn't know, but I loved to look at him, especially his eyes. Mother's soft green eyes, like a field of grass in the summer. But his eyes became dark after it happened. He missed a haircut here and there and fathers brown hair began to grow out on his head. He would get angry, and yell, but he never hurt me. I never told anyone how bad Caleb could get. One night I screamed back, and the next morning he was gone.

I hated myself for driving him off like that, but we both needed space. Needed to figure out the best way for each of us to handle our parents being gone and grieve. Turns out he just need to be states away from me.

Neither of us have tried to contact the other since that night.

"What do you think Eric has in store for us tonight?" Christina asks walking out of the bathroom in her uniform.

"Knowing him, it could be anything."

She nods. "Tori thinks it's a new dance routine. Lynn thinks it's something to do with Max."

"Why Max?" I ask her.

Christina smiles. "Lynn said she overheard Eric on the phone with him last week. It sounds like we're getting another dancer soon."

Inside, I'm screaming at the new girl to get away. But on the inside, that means less spotlight on me. The newest dancer always gets the most attention for the first week or so of their time at Dauntless.

"It sounds like someone might be leaving too." She adds, her voice low.

"Do we know who?"

She shakes her head. We're all terrified of being transferred. Shauna instantly pops into my mind, but I try to ignore it. Any of us could be transferred really. Heck, even Lauren could go.

"What do you think would happen if we all left Max at once?" Christina asks out loud. "It's easier for him to catch us when it's just one person running. So if we all decided one day, to just not show up, what do you think would happen?"

"I think you'd better not ask that kind of question out loud Christina." I say, warning in my voice. Then whisper, "But it is an idea worth considering."

She smiles and nods.

Soon we are back in her car and on our way to work the Pit. Shauna and Cara are already there. Lynn arrives soon after, and it's time to work. Usual customers come in and out, ordering burgers, extra fries, and of course cake.

"I've been trying something new." Matthew says when I deliver him another order.

"And that is?" Shauna asks looking through her phone. I'd asked her how her "hang out" with Zeke went, and she just giggled.

"Taking the cake mix, and making it into cookies." He pulls out a tray of chocolate cookies. "Cake-cookies!"

Shauna and I look at each other and shrug. We each take one and take a bite. It's the moistness of chocolate cake, but the stability of a cookie, it's wonderful. Shauna actually moans. Maybe she's too worked up.

Then she actually runs out of the kitchen to Max's guard dog of the day, Damien Heller, and squeals to him. Matthew suddenly looks nervous. Heller walks in and takes a cookie, nodding approvingly as he eats it. This is how we get new ideas to Max. If someone has an idea, they make it and give a sample to Max's minion watching over us. If they like it, they'll have the worker fill out an official request to add it to the menu and then if Max approves it, you get a $100 bonus.

Shauna then hurries all of the girls working in when she can and makes them try a cookie, eating a few more herself. Moaning each time. If I didn't know any better, I'd say they were giving her an orgasm.

"Matthew you're a genius!" Christina exclaims. "Cake-cookies! It's so simple. Why didn't we think of it?" She turns to look at the rest of us.

"If Max doesn't approve this I think I'll seriously cry." Shauna says while taking a fifth cookie. Lynn is eyeing her strangely, but with a small smile in the corner of her mouth.

Even Matthew, though he is happy to take the compliment, looks a little worried.

Edward didn't come to the Pit today, which I am very thankful for, but Zeke decided to stop by. It's been three weeks or so since he and Four stopped in. As far as I know, Zeke and Shauna have stayed in touch, texting, calling, or hanging out on Sundays.

"Zeke, nice to see you again." I say as I walk by him.

"Always the pleasure Tris. You know where Shauna is by any chance?"

I nod towards the kitchen. He follows me, keeping close to avoid Heller from spotting him.

"Shauna, someone here to see you." I say as Zeke walks into her line of sight. Her face is stuffed with chocolate cake-cookies, and she still manages to smile and look beautiful.

He laughs as she tries to swallow the chunk in her mouth.

I hear the front door open once more and poke my head out. Half expecting to see Four walk in looking for Zeke, but it's not. It's just a couple. A small pang of disappointment ripples through me. _It's for the best._ I take a deep breath and go out to finish my shift, ignoring that uncomfortable rock in the pit of my stomach of disappointment.

Zeke leaves about ten minutes later. Christina, Cara, and Lynn are finishing up out on the floor. Since the Pit is to remain open until 3am, Max brings in hired help to watch the place. They should be here soon.

I walk into the locker room where Shauna is trying to shove a small box into hers.

"What's in there?" I ask her as I put my apron away.

"Nothing." She says quickly.

"You know you're going to get a stomach ache from eating all those." I motion to the napkin filled with cake-cookies.

"Fine." She says.

Her expression is serious now. "Shauna what's wrong?"

"I can't do it. I can't fall in love with him and I already know that I am. He's going to find out Tris. He's going to find out and then everything is going to fall apart. Max will transfer me and Zeke won't want anything to do with me. I'm used, owned. I'm a fucking slave Tris!"

"We all are. It's nothing new." I shrug at her outburst. Me fighting her will only upset her more. "You know if Max or Eric find out, they'll put you in the cage."

She shudders. "I know Tris."

The cage is something every dancer hates. Under the main dance floor of the club is the hallway to the private rooms when people reserve us for viewings. But underneath that, is the cage. It's a square glass box. We wear chains around our wrists and ankles and are forced to dance with no air conditioning. Viewers will watch from around the glass and toss money towards the cage, which is sucked through a vacuum like device and blown up into the glass with us. The worst part isn't that we get no breaks or water when we're in the cage, it's that none of the money thrown at us is ours to keep. No tips are made in the cage. It goes all to the club.

There was a girl a long time ago, her stage name was Storm, and it was said that she was in the cage for three weeks straight and nearly died from the heat exhaustion. They say she was so close to death that for her last burst of energy, she broke the glass just to breath cool air. She was then transferred to Abnegation. What makes her special, is that she is the only girl to escape Max completely unharmed. She disappeared, and no one had heard of her since.

She sighs heavily. "Earrings." She pulls out the box she was just trying to stuff in. It's a red box with some designer name on the top. "He bought me a pair of $300 earrings." She opens it to reveal two crystal cut tear drop earrings, shining whenever the light hits them.

"Wow." I look back at her face. Her dark brown eyes are trained on the earrings. A small smile plays on her face.

"Yeah, wow."

"We ready to go see what Eric has in store for us?" Christina's voice carries into the locker room.

"I suppose." Shauna says shutting the box and quickly stuffing it away. I just shrug.

Heller sees us out and makes sure we're safely in our vehicles. Then watches as we pull out of the lot and onto the road. It would feel like security for a princess, except that's the one thing we're far from.

Dauntless parking lot is empty, which is to be expected. It doesn't open for another hour. Only a small handful of people are lined up outside.

We all walk in together through the dressing room. Eric is waiting for us.

"Welcome ladies. Tonight we will begin to introduce a new factor in your acts. Peter!" He yells up into the rafters. The lights on the stage come up then, along with the audience lights. There's a new dancing stand in the middle of the audience, accompanied by one pole, and surrounded by a plastic wall in a circular shape.

"The Tank ladies. A dancer will go in through the bottom, and then will be showered by water from above."

All the girls visibly stiffen. It looks so much like the cage, except it's obvious it's not. The tip mechanism is the same as the cage where money is vacuumed in through a device at the base of the platform. Eric makes sure to mention that of the money devoured by the machine, 20% will be ours.

"We have also added some, gym equipment." He says smirking. Then he points to the top of the stage, a little platform for one girl to dance at a time almost twenty five feet in the air. A zip line stretches from the very top of the room, rounds around the edge of the upper rim and then spirals again just above the crowd before ending back on stage. Honestly it looks like fun. I also notice two rope swings attached to the sides of the stage, for swinging no doubt. And now there are mirrored walls in the center of the stage, and they twist around as an optional entrance.

"Raven." His voice barks. It's my name but everyone looks back at Eric. "You're first on the zip tonight." He point to the zip line. "You're the lightest, so we'll see if it works properly on you now. Up you go." He pushes past me, motioning for me to follow. Some of the other girls give me a sympathetic look, but others look relieved that he didn't pick them to test it out. Honestly, I'd be in the latter category.

Eric and I walk up the spiral stairs to get there. It's a tiny platform, so having us both up there is tight. There's a small harness with it thank goodness. Eric straps me in, going head first. I don't ask if he's already tested this thing for safety reasons. It would be stupid.

"On you go Stiff." He teases. Stiff was a nickname for me when I first arrived. I had a hard time moving around fluidly.

"Drop through the stage gap when you're done." He says. I nod.

Then he pushes me off. I drop a good six feet before the zip line starts me around the room. It's a stomach in the throat feeling that I'm not too fond of. But I don't scream. The zip line is fast, I'm around the room and around again before I know what happened. My eyes have watered and my throat is dry. A smile comes to my face and I begin to laugh.

I notice Lynn and Christina smirking at me, while Cara shakes her head, and Tori whispers something to Shauna.

I unclip myself and fall into the whole in the stage and land on two layers of old king size mattresses.

Having never done anything like zip lining before, I know right now I would love to do something like that again, but longer, faster with more risk.

"Very good." I hear Peter's voice from behind me. "Enjoy it?"

"Yeah actually. That was a lot of fun."

He smiles, an actual genuine smile. I don't know if I've ever seen it on Peter. It looks good. Something made him happy today, because he doesn't mock me or bother blocking me for one reason or another to get up to get ready for work.

My outfit today is black and a navy blue with some body sparkles. Tomorrow is Friday, so it's our day to work at the Pit rather than dance. Unfortunately, the other group doesn't dance either. Tomorrow is the night of male dancers at Dauntless. Once a month, but it brings in a lot of women and some men to see the male dancers. They're allowed to be much more "you can look and touch" rather than our thing which is "look don't touch, unless we're giving you a dance and you pay."

My makeup, curtosie of Christina is black around the edges, and navy blue with sparkles just like my outfit. If I were going out to a club myself to dance I would put on nude lipstick at most to avoid looking like a stripper, but hey, that's practically my profession. My lips are coated in a bright bubblegum pink. I avoid looking at myself in mirrors whenever possible when I look like this.

Peter handed us a pair of wings tonight. Max's angels will fly. With the zip line, now we can, and I'm up first.

Everyone's wings are different. Our outfits always make sure to show off our tattooed Dauntless wings on our lower back. These new wings will just slide over our arms like a jacket would.

Christina is handed crystal white wings.

Shauna is handed hot pink wings.

Lynn is handed purple wings.

Tori is handed burnt orange wings.

Molly is handed dark green wings.

Cara is handed royal blue wings.

I'm given blackened blood red wings.

I wear my favorite black "fuck me" heels. They're the ones I've broken in the most, and therefore the most comfortable. They match my outfit anyway.

"Raven, you have a private dance scheduled right after your 11pm round on the zip line. Room 3. Then another at 1am in room 6." Peter says as I put on my wings and Lynn is helping straighten them out. I nod to him and he walks over calling out other scheduled rooms for the girls.

Taking one last glance in the mirror I walk out to just behind the stage where we all will do an opening act, wings included.

Raven is ready to play.

And play she does.

Raven takes over the stage. She pounds her feet to the beat, sways her hips in a sensual manner that Tris could never achieve. Her eyes scream sex appeal as she eye fucks any guy who stares at her too long. A small secret smile on the corner of her lips as people cheer her name. Money is shoved at her. This is was Raven lives for.

The zip line is a hit. I'm strapped in, and the next thing I know, I'm flying once more. Striking a pose that looks practiced by a professional. Edward is cheering the loudest for her, but he doesn't touch her tonight.

Raven is not sent to the new Tank tonight, but Candy and Luscious are. They bring in more money than before.

The first private dance goes fine and brings in money like Raven knows how. The second private dance makes Raven freeze in her tracks. Her breath is quick and labored, and not from a night of hard dancing. The one who has booked this room. Room 6, one of the most expensive rooms in all of Dauntless. Raven is to dance behind a sheet of glass for none other than Tris's professor.

His smile is evil and chilling. He watches her with hungry eyes. He's the only one in this room with a capacity for fifteen. Right up front.

Raven tries not to make too much eye contact, because it makes her miss a step. There's complementary lotion and tissues in this room. Raven watches as he pleasures himself to her dancing. Tris is sick on the inside. Everything feels heavy. But Raven pushes through. She dances hard and sensual. And when the time is up, she removes herself from the room as she is told to do.

He doesn't say anything at first. He just smiles at her. But when she walks past him, he grips her arm and whispers in her ear. "Thank you Raven. I look forward to seeing you in class tomorrow." Then he lets her go.

Tris wants to run and vomit. Scrub herself clean until her skin is raw and red. Raven calmly walks backstage to prepare for her duo with Bambi coming up.

_Professor Thompson. _Raven writes the name down for Tris. Another name to add to her shit list.

****Please review!****


	7. Chapter 7

****Hello there everyone! So this has got to be the longest chapter I've written for this story so far! AAHHH excitement! Anyway, I won't take up too much of your time here, except that to say that I forgot a disclaimer! Bad me!**

**Oh well, here it is: Disclaimer – I do not and will never own the original characters or plot line of the Divergent Trilogy.**

**There we go, not so bad.**

**More texting in this chapter, and remember, when characters are texting, _bold italics_ are the person in this POV, and plain **_italics_** are the person they're talking to. So in this case, Tris is _bold italics._**

**And there seems to be a mutual murderous feeling about Professor Thompson… ooohhh I smell DRAMA! Poor Tris, her life is so complicated. And it will get even more so! Huge hint of drama at the end of this chapter! Hahaha love it! And thank you everyone for the reviews! I love you all for taking the time to read my story!**

**By the way, have you seen the Insurgent trailer? OMG I was hyperventilating in the office break room!**

**Enough of me, onto the story!****

**Tris POV**

It's Friday. Last day of the week, and the night of the male dancers. It'll be interesting to hear the stories on Saturday. Eric usually has one girl come in to help bar tend or work backstage with Peter on these once a month occasions. I've never been called in, but Christina has. She says she has conflicting emotions about it. On one hand it's great to see the male dancers, but on the other, she has to work and help with whatever Peter says. Sounds fabulous.

It's nearing winter, but my room feels like it's on fire. Or maybe it's just me.

I'm plagued by nightmare after nightmare no matter how much I try to knock myself into an unconscious state. I need sleep. Just one good night sleep without all of the problems in my life getting in and taking control. Max. Eric. Edward. Now Professor Thompson. Everything is going to shit. Then there's my T.A. from Shakespeare. God that T.A. It's like he takes pleasure in watching me when he thinks I'm not looking. I honestly can't tell anymore if it's because he knows me from Dauntless or not. I've never seen him there before so I would hope he doesn't know me as my alter ego, but who can say what is real anymore?

I know Christina has had her eye on me more recently, and not just in the _best friend_ kind of way, but more of the _I know there's something you're not telling me_ way. For the most part she's stayed silent.

My bed creaks as I sit up and swing my legs over the edge. The bright red numbers on my alarm clock read 8:21am. I don't need to get up for another two hours really. Having gone to bed at 3:30am I could use the sleep. My body and my mind just aren't agreeing with one another. I'll just end up sucking down another one of those horrible tasting energy drinks that the lead manager of Erudite invented in her spare time.

Jeanine Mathews. The wicked witch in the good fairy's clothing. All of Max's clubs have the lead manger, like Eric is for Dauntless. In Amity, they have a woman named Johanna Reyes, though I'm pretty sure she doesn't realize what exactly the other clubs participate in. In Candor, it's a guy named Jack Kang. I don't know much about him, but I've heard that he dropped out of law school to be a male dancer for Max, and then ended up running a club himself cause he and Max became such good friends. Abnegation is led by a guy named Marcus Eaton. Get this, he's apparently a government worker as well. Only, no one knows this kind of business he's in. No one really knows who leads the Gutter. The whole place is a stinking secret. Literally.

Jeanine on one hand, seems like a nice woman. She's smart and knows how to keep her agenda hidden. But in the end, she'll be ready to strip you of everything you are.

I decide to get up and get ready since I know I won't be able to go back to sleep. Dressing in a simple dark red short sleeved shirt, black jeans and a dark gray jacket I head out the door and go to the library, killing a few hours before class begins. How am I going to look Professor Thompson in the eyes now?

The bell in the clock tour rings when it's time for class. With a heavy breath and a lump in my stomach, I begin the day.

I enter my Contemporary Editing class with my head down, as I've been doing for the last few weeks. Only this time it's different. Ever since Professor Thompson realized who I was, I've been worried about him. But I didn't used to show it. Before, I would hold my head up high, participate, and act like nothing was wrong. He had gotten a little handsy after class more than a few times now. I fear he will begin to show up at Dauntless more. After last night's private dance, he only ever stayed in the crowd, never even came up to the stage to shove money into my skimpy outfits. Just watched me from his seat, a satisfied smirk on his face. It made my skin crawl.

Christina cornered me after our class together with Amar two weeks in and forced me to tell her the extent of what is going on. I can't wait until she finds out I'm hiding the fact that he bought a private dance from me last night.

"_Tris Prior you had better tell me what is going on with you or so help me I will force you to attend a debate with me."_

_I roll my eyes slightly. Christina used to be a communications major and therefore loved to attend debates on campus, she was good at it too. But she eventually chose language overall. Debates seemed too proper for her now. _

"_It's nothing Chris really." I try to brush her off but she was having none of it. _

"_I don't get you sometimes. You say you're fine or everything is okay or nothing is bothering you, when clearly the opposite is true. You're like a hormonal teenager insisting that everything is okay when it's not. You can't lie to me Tris, and I've been letting you _think_ that you've been getting away with lying to me which is so not the truth." Her face softens a bit. "Please, I want to help you. Whatever is going on in that blonde head of yours, you can tell me. I know when to keep certain things secret."_

"_I can take care of myself so I don't want you to worry." I say calmly as we begin to walk through the plaza outside of the building. She looks like she's about to protest but I cut her off. "However, I will tell you, but you can't repeat it to anyone."_

_She nods quickly. "Cross my heart, and hope to… well I don't really want to die. Cross my heart and hope to be reassigned to the Gutter." She jokes._

_It earns a small laugh out of me. Everyone who works for Max knows that the Gutter is a terrible place to work. Some say it's worse than death, but I have to disagree with them. I don't welcome the idea of death or invite it into my life, but ever since my parents died I've accepted the idea that it's a part of living. It's going to happen to everyone, some sooner than later. Max wouldn't kill us for trying to leave, he'd get one of his goons, some bigger and meaner than Eric, to beat us, get us addicted to coke, and pimp us out or beat us and toss us in the Gutter. No one talks about the side pimp business because no one even wants to think about it. There have been girls though who simply disappear. No one knows where they go, but they are never seen from again. They're the ones with the horrible attitude, try to run away or attempt something crazy while in Max's employment. _

"_It's my Editing Professor again."_

_Her eyes go wide. "He knows you work at Dauntless. You told me on the first day, but you never did get to tell me the details. Spill it now." She puts her hands on her hips and her expression becomes stern._

_I feel like a small child caught with a hand halfway in the cookie jar. "He's gotten a little worse."_

"_Little?" She cocks an eyebrow._

"_Okay more than a little. He's handsy and likes to meet me after class. Calling me Raven."_

"_He should know the rules."_

_I take a deep breath. "I've been telling him that but he won't listen."_

_She pauses and looks around at our surroundings, making sure no one is listening probably. Then turns back to me. "You have to let someone know."_

"_I can't."_

_She sighs. "I know. Eric would find out and then Max would find out. And we don't want _that_ happening." _

"_Maybe that wouldn't be such a bad thing." I offer before I can stop myself._

"_What do you mean? If Eric or Max find out that you've been 'hanging out' with a member of Dauntless while off site and for free, Tris you could be in a lot of trouble."_

"_But then they would know about him and they could kick him out."_

"_And make you change majors so you don't see him anymore."_

_I hate it when she's right, which turns out, is a lot of the time. I shake my head. "Someone was bound to recognize me right? Sooner or later." My voice sounding weaker than I'd like._

_Her arms are thrown around me in an instant. "I'm so sorry Tris. Why didn't you tell me earlier? You could have transferred out!"_

"_I need the class for my major."_

_She gives me a sad look. "We just went over this. You know what's going to happen if it continues don't you?" I know, but I don't say anything. "They're going to find out if your prof continues inappropriate behavior. He could blame you for instigating a relationship between the two of you. They could send you somewhere else, or make you switch majors." _

_I can feel myself deflate at her words. I knew the consequences. I don't want to switch majors. Creative Writing is the equivalent to freedom, plus it keeps me out of Erudite. I'm not nice enough for Amity's Family Center, imagine the surprise when parents realize they've been taking their kids to a place run by a pimp/drug lord/and who knows what else. There is no way I could go to Candor, I'm not talkative enough for that. I'll probably be sent to Abnegation once I've hit late twenties. An old sports bar where my time is devoted to serving others. _

"_Tris, I know you don't want that. I have a plan."_

Since then, I've been hanging my head low as to show him that he's won. At least for now. I used to hold myself to a higher standard. Making myself purposely look weak makes me feel weak too. I don't like showing defeat. But since I have been, he has paid less attention to me. Though he still smiles at me. Like he is right now as I take my seat.

At least I thought my strategy was working until last night.

Maybe that's why I'm so popular at Dauntless. Not for my lack of a woman's body, but because of the way I hold myself. A burning fire is attractive. A dull flame in the coals is not.

The top I wore today I realized shows my raven tattoos. Since that is one of the markers that identify me, I thankfully found a black scarf in the bottom of my bag and wrapped it around my neck so that it drapes down into my collar bone. It's mid-October, I can pass it off as simply because I'm cold.

Everyone piles into the class slowly. The few boys that were in this class dropped out within the first two weeks. It's obvious that Professor Thompson is more modeled to teach those of the female gender. I hate his personality. The other girls seem drawn to him. Sure he's good looking, but I've seen a lot of good looking guys from my job. Been hit on by them too, and it never caused me to bat an eye.

The back of my mind nags me about the T.A. in my Shakespeare class. Yes he's attractive, but I can't do that. He even smiled at me last class period. It was just for an in depth answer I gave in front of the whole class. Amar was impressed, and then the T.A., Four, smiled. It didn't leave my head the entire night, even when I was at the Pit, and it followed me into my dreams. He hardly ever smiles.

I try to control the fluttering in my heart and the heat in my cheeks when he crosses my mind, but it's like trying to breathe under water. It can't be done. Wondering ever so carefully what he looks like on a weekend, or what his voice sounds like after just waking up. Would it be deep, husky, both? Does he work out? Are his eyes really as blue as they look up close? Is he seeing anyone?

"Beatrice." Everyone's eyes are on me. Professor Thompson is staring at me with mock concern. "Are you feeling alright? Do you need to step out?" My face is hot, it must be really red.

"I need some air. Sorry." I grab my stuff and squeeze in between seats in order to get to the door. With one last look over my shoulder to the class, I see everyone's eyes are still on me, and Professor Thompson is smiling in a not so kind way. A shiver runs down my spine and I press myself onwards through the door.

I go to the bathroom down the hall and splash some water on my face. My reflection shows a red face, like I've been running. Heating up this much at the thought of a guy is bad news. I can't allow myself to do that again.

The door opens and a girl with long dark hair and pale skin walks in. She's from my class.

"You okay?" She asks in a way that is timid, and at the same time assertive.

"Just a little under the weather." I say splashing some more water on my face to prove a point. "Why?"

"Professor Thompson wanted someone to come check on you."

I shudder. "Did he say why?"

She folds her arms across her chest. "No, but he sounded worried." Then she leans in closer. "Are you sleeping with him?"

I turn around quickly and stare at her. "What?! God no!"

She sighs a little. "I thought that, but there's a rumor going around that you two are… well, you know."

A groan escapes me. "No I'm not sleeping with Professor Thompson. Honestly, I can't stand him. He's creepy and stares at me and I hate it."

She smiles a little. "Welcome to the club." That's when I recognize her fully. She's the girl he made a comment about on the first day about looking good in yoga pants. "He's a total creep. And most of the girls in the class don't think you're actually sleeping with him, it's just a rumor. Best to ignore them." Then her eyes stare at me intently. "Do you know why he's centered his focus on you?"

I can't tell her I'm a dancer at the dirtiest club in town. "He knows me out of class. Well, he doesn't know me, but he's seen me out of class, and it wasn't my best moment." The truth I suppose, but I could add a few false details to make it seem more real. "I was out with a few friends at the beginning of the year and we got a little smashed. He saw me making out with guys in a bar at random wearing slightly skimpy outfit." Bullshit. "And has been watching me ever since."

"Ouch." She looks a little disgusted, but not at me directly, I think.

"Yeah. But I can't transfer out since this is my major."

She nods. "I get that. Are you English Literature, or Creative Writing?"

"Creative Writing."

She looks a little saddened. "Oh, I'm English Lit. It would have been nice to know someone early on in the major."

I can see where she's coming from. "Sorry."

"Not a problem." Then she releases a deep breath and smiles, rocking on her heels slightly. "Well, I had better get back to class. Thanks for clearing it up for me."

"No problem. And if he asks, tell him I won't be coming back to class today. In fact if you could, tell him I threw up."

"Sure thing. By the way, my name's Myra." She holds out her hand.

"Beatrice, but you can call me Tris." I shake it.

Her smile widens, and her hazel eyes sparkle. "Nice to officially meet you Tris. I like your tattoo by the way."

I pale a little, and look down at my collar bone. The scarf has shifted a bit, revealing one of my ravens.

She laughs at my expression. "Don't worry, it's not a crime to have a tattoo. It's a cute bird. What is it?"

_Bird._ She only sees one of them. That's better than seeing all three I suppose. "It's a raven. For my brother. He moved away and I haven't seen him for a really long time. This way he's always close to my heart."

Myra must love sentimental stories like this because she looks like she's going to swoon. "That's so sweet. I have a tattoo too, but it's not for a family member." She frowns. "Actually, I'm planning on either getting it removed or altered to say something else."

"It says something? A name?"

"An ex-boyfriend."

"Myra." I groan sarcastically.

She laughs. "I was sixteen and in love with my first boyfriend, thinking we would be together forever kind of shit."

"I got mine when I was sixteen too." I smile at her. I could see Myra and I being friends. She's soft and sweet, without being unbearably happy all the time. She reminds me a little of Christina, but she's not as assertive as Christina. She's shy like me.

"Want to sit together next class period?" She asks smiling.

"Yes. I would like that very much."

She giggles a little then looks at the clock on the wall. "Oh I had better get back now."

"This just helps the story that I threw up. You walked in on me and helped me get cleaned up."

"Definitely." Then she walks out of the door. Leaving me, once again alone.

I make it to Shakespeare early today because of this incident. Although my phone has already beeped twice with new emails. Probably from Professor Thompson. He's been doing that a lot lately. Probably asking me to come to his office after class or asking me how I'm doing, if I need more time on the assignment and such.

There's only a few people in the classroom when I walk in. Amar looks pleasantly surprised to see me as one of the first ones.

"You're here early." He says as I walk by him to my seat.

"Class got out early." I say as casually as I can.

"Connor didn't keep you behind to talk?"

My steps falter a bit, but I brush it off quickly and compose myself. "No." It's a quick and sharp answer.

Amar nods and looks back at his work. To anyone else he would look like he's focusing on his work, but he's been staring at the same paper he was when I walked in. He's thinking to himself. About my quick answer. I send up a silent prayer that he doesn't go snooping or asking around. Or worse, he sends Four to go snooping.

Speak of the number boy, Four walks in shortly after I sit down. And stops in his tracks when he looks over in my direction. But much like myself, he quickly fixes his steps and pretends as though it never happened. Anything to avoid looking weak.

We don't make much eye contact through class and I'm grateful for it. I don't want anyone else's eyes on me today.

There is one moment though, when Amar is talking about the play _As You Like It_, wondering the simple question of how did Orlando not know that the young man he met in the woods, Ganymede was Rosalind? Someone answered as a joke, "Because women are so good at keeping secrets!" Everyone laughed, everyone but me.

That's when our eyes meet once more. I glanced up at him to see him smirking at the comment, but he must sense I'm looking at him. His deep ocean eyes connect with my stormy sky eyes, and his expression becomes serious, but concerned. I try hard to look away as best I can, but it's like my subconscious wants to alert him to the fact that I have secrets. Don't come near me.

Amar says something else and the class laughs once again. That's when I realize he was making fun of Four for one reason or another.

Everyone looks at Four then and laughs about something. He looks at Amar but with a smile on his face. A small one, but a smile. It's a nice smile.

Everything seems normal again after class. I felt my phone go off a few more times indicating more emails but I ignore them. I'm supposed to be sick.

I notice Christina is acting distracted as she walks out of class, but it's a happy distraction.

"What are you thinking about?" I ask her.

"Nothing." She smirks.

"Liar."

"Yup."

I smile at her.

"What, no more questions?" She nudges my shoulder.

"You'll tell me eventually."

She laughs. "That's true." Her arm links in mine as we walk through campus, where I can walk down to the Pit, and she can go to her last class.

We separate at the building and say our goodbyes for now.

Something catches my eye though as she's walking in. Through the ground floor glass walls, I can make out a boy, just a few inches taller than her with sandy blonde hair is waiting for her. He takes her hand and she willingly goes with him deeper into the building.

Oh Christina.

I try not to worry about it too much on my way to the Pit. Christina knows the rules. She wouldn't risk it. Hell, she was on Shauna not that long ago for staring too long at a guy who resembled Zeke who came in for cake. I'm not one to pry into other people's lives usually, but when it's these kinds of consequences we're dealing with, I need to protect my own.

Maybe that's how a mother feels.

A sickening thought enters my mind.

When I called my parents that night, I was scared. I sounded scared on the phone. My mother on the other end was calm about everything. Telling me that they would be there as soon as they could. That she was coming for me. She was trying to protect me, and she died trying.

My chest feels heavy, and I release a shaky breath. That's when I feel my phone buzz.

_Hey Bea howz school?_

Robert.

_**Fine. Bit of a slow period, but I'm managing.**_

_Bea, ur like the only girl I no who txts complete senetnces._

_**Sorry?**_

_Nah don't b. It's a nice change._

_**How's the roommate situation?**_

_Prtty cool actually! G is a gr8 guy! Gay, but gr8. We goin' 2 some crazy club tonite. _

_**G?**_

_George. His name is George, but goez by G._

_**Goez? Seriously Rob it's not that hard to hit the "s".**_

_Bad habit _

I smile down at my phone.

_**So what club are you going to?**_

_No idea, but G says tonite is the best nite 2 go._

_**Well I hope you have fun. I have to go, work and all.**_

_Count on it!_

_**And be safe.**_

_Bea… this is me we talkin bout. I'm always safe ;)_

I can't help but roll my eyes. Robert sounds so different over text, it's like his alter ego is a wannabe gangster the way he talks. Though I'd never say that to his face. He would probably take offense to it. But I'm glad things worked out well for him and his roommate. Now I know for certain that Tori's brother is his roommate George. Only, I can't mention that I know Tori because that would be breaking the code of the angels.

The Pit is relatively slow tonight, which is odd for Friday nights.

Christina shows up two minutes after her shift started. Harrison gave her the stink eye. I chose not to say anything about her little hand holding situation with the blonde guy because I would honestly rather not get into it right now. Maybe tomorrow after we've been able to sleep in.

"Tris." Matthew comes out from behind the counter just as I'm heading back. He has his phone in hand. Well, not his phone, but the phone Max gave him.

"Yeah?" I ask, wiping my hands on my apron.

He looks out at the audience of customers and then says in a hushed tone. "It's not the kind of thing to discuss here."

I nod, understanding what he means. We both walk back behind the counter, but he takes it further and doesn't stop until we're safe in the locker room. Even then, he doesn't really look at me, just the phone in his hand.

"Matt? What's up?"

"Eric is calling you in."

Oh. "Really?" I don't know how I should react to this. I won't be dancing so it might not be that bad.

"Yeah. He wants you there in an hour to help Peter set up." Matthew shivers at the Peter's name. He hates Peter. He might even hate Peter more than we do, which is a lot. The long term conflict that may never be resolved between Matthew and Peter, is that Peter got Matthew's cousin into our little angel's group. Her name is Monica, and she's currently an escort in Erudite. I remember her. She came to Dauntless just a few months after I started, like all new dancers to see where they'll best fit in. In the end, it was Erudite. I think he was slightly grateful for that, but he could never forgive Peter for it.

Matthew tried to talk her out of it as best he could because he knew firsthand what it was like, seeing as he used to also be one of the male dancers. He was the most popular among the Erudite guests when he was working, but ended up making a deal not to dance anymore and instead work here in the diner. But Monica wouldn't listen to him, because she was _in love_ with Peter and trusted him. How silly of a decision that was.

"I'll be there." I say to him as confidently as I can.

He gives me a weak smile and redials a number on the phone. Eric I assume, letting him know I'm coming. Not like I have a choice in the matter.

All the girls in the diner know what happened with Matt and me in the locker room when they see me packing up. Christina gives me a weak smile. It's only once a month, and odds are I won't get called in for another two years. Shauna gives me a little hug on my way out. She's always been the gentlest, but she's even more so now that she has a love interest. Lynn gave me her best sympathetic look, though I know she isn't all that sorry.

I catch one of the last late night buses towards the center of the city. Towards Dauntless. There's already a hoard of screaming women outside. A few men too.

I walk around back. Gunner, one of the security members tries to stop me. None of us like Gunner, though he's easily frightened. For a guard anyway. About a year ago, he made a move on Cara, and she's too shy and too sweet to be in this business so she didn't do that much to push him away. It escalated and if Lynn and Shauna hadn't been walking by, she could have been raped. She was traumatized for sure, and that was the last Gunner ever saw inside our changing station. At first, he thinks I'm a fan, but recognizes me and realizes his mistake when I give him one of my signature glares. Lynn once commented that I had a chronic bitch face. Gunner backed off and gave me room to walk towards the back door. Somewhere, I knew someone watching the security footage was smiling.

It's a mad house back stage. There are probably ten guys back here getting ready. One of them is using my station. I have to do a double take because he looks like Zeke at first.

"Harley! Come on man over here!" Some voice behind me calls to some other guy. Harley? I never actually thought about what names would be given out to male strippers.

"Who are you and where have you been all my life?" A sly voice says from behind me. I turn and come eye to eye with a man about my age, his blonde hair is spiked up his head and he wears thick black eye liner to hide his green eyes. He's shirtless, except for a pair of studded suspenders.

"Leave her be Spike."

I turn back to the young man sitting at my station. I swear he looks nearly identical to Zeke, and yet, he's taller with shorter hair, and narrower eyes.

"She's not hyperventilating so she's obviously back here for a reason."

"I thought Spike was a dog's name." I say smiling innocently at the blonde.

A wider smile appears on his face. "What's yours?"

"I'll give you a hint. Your friend," I motion to the one behind me. "Is sitting at my station."

His eyes widen slightly and he instantly takes a step back.

"Raven!" Peter shouts my name. "Where are you?!"

"Hide before the minion comes." The one behind me states.

I shrug. "Can't. I've been called in to help him back stage."

They both give me a sympathetic look. "Sorry about that honey." Spike says mockingly, but in good fun.

"Don't call me honey." I glare at him.

He laughs and walks off towards some other guys. "Sorry about him. He's usually not like that. It's just his,"

"Alter ego?" I answer turning back to the one at my station. "I get it."

"I'm Snake. Here anyway." He offers me his hand.

"Raven."

"I would tell you my real name but, you'll understand why I don't." I nod. "So you're they're number one dancer? I don't mean to be rude, but you don't really look it." I can't help but laugh. He gives me a strange look. I take a moment to take in this, Snake. Short cropped black hair and a creamy chocolate skin color, minimal eye liner, but he's wearing tinted chapstick. Anyone in this profession could tell. He wears an obnoxiously short pair of red shorts with scales no doubt. No shirt, except for a matching red and silver tie around his neck. Then a pair of white tube socks in black combat boots.

"Honestly, I'm not sure why I'm number one either. I've asked Eric and he just said because I'm memorable."

Snake gives me another look.

"I normally wear a lot more makeup than this and a black wig. Plus," I pull down the edge of my dark red short sleeved shirt, revealing my raven tattoos. "These show."

He looks at them in an admiring way. "That's really cool! I have a tattoo myself. It's actually how I got my name."

"You sure it's not just some sexual innuendo?" I ask sarcastically making a bold eye motion to his private area. Normally this would make me blush just at the thought of doing it, but here, I'm someone else.

He laughs, deep and hearty. It's contagious. "No, I had this before I started." He turns his head to reveal a small snake tattoo behind his right ear.

"Me too."

"Raven!" Peter's voice calls out again.

"That's my cue." I say backing up towards the rafter staircase.

"Go help the little weasel. And try not to get on his bad side."

"Peter has a bad side?" I ask, sarcasm dripping from my mouth. He laughs again. And I wave him off. "I've been doing this too long to know better."

I hear it under his breath, and though I don't think it was meant for me to hear, it still makes me shiver. "Haven't we all?"

Peter is waiting in the prop area just below the rafters. "Where have you been?" He practically yells waving his clipboard around, almost hitting me in the head.

"I got caught up in the crowd. Gunner thought I was a fan trying to get in." I know this will probably screw Gunner over, but after the incident with Cara, I don't care.

He swears under his breath and then shoves a box full of things in my arms. "Go and set these up." I shrug, happy to be out of his presence. Wasn't it just last night he smiled at me like we were actual friends rather than coworkers at a club? This guy has mood swings like a preteen girl.

After everything is set up and the music is about to start, I take a look out at the crowd. It's mostly chatty women at the tables and on the floor. Some men in the back, even less who actually look excited.

The music begins, and the first few guys take their places. The screaming is worse than when us girls dance. It's higher pitched and full of emotion. I don't know how these guys don't get headaches from the squeals.

Some kind of commotion takes place in the back of the room. Just two guys talking it looks like. They move like magnets, pushing and pulling. One looks desperate to get away from here, and the other looks angry and wants to stay. It's only when one of the spotlights shines over the crowd momentarily and catches the one trying to get away. Just for a brief second, I see him.

My face turns red and my heart beat speeds up. I want to scream. What is he doing here?! I have enough complications in my life already. At least I can send a silent prayer up to whatever higher power there is that I'm not dancing tonight.

His black leather jacket gets caught in the light again as the other man has somehow convinced him to stay a bit longer. And though he looks like he'd rather be anywhere else than here, I can see the curiosity behind his eyes. Eyes that have haunted me even if I won't admit to it.

Four, what are you doing here?

****And there is chapter 7 for you ladies and gents! Next chapter should be up same time next week! Please review!****


	8. Chapter 8

****OVER 100 REVIEWS! WHAT IS THIS MADNESS?! You guys rock! Seriously! I've never had so many reviews before! Oh my god! Plus over 1.3k views on the story since I last updated? You guys spoil me! And another super long chapter for you guys and gals! Lucky lucky you :)**

**Sorry for the major cliff hanger in the last chapter, it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up!**

**I hope all of you had a fabulous holiday (whatever it is you celebrate, or don't celebrate) and happy new year! 2015, what?! No way is this possible. It was just the beginning of 2014 not that long ago? Am I right? Sigh… time just goes by so freakin fast as we get older. It's going to be a good year I hope! I mean, happy stuff, my little sister graduates high school this year, I will turn 20 this year (so old) and I get to officially declare my major at my university! AAHAHAHA so excited. If you haven't already guessed, it's Creative Writing. Though I am considering a double major now, adding on Business Admin to my plate. We'll see.**

**Special update too, this is in Four's POV! AND IT'S SO LONG! Don't get used to Four's POV being this long, but I just couldn't stop with this one! HEHE more exciting stuff revealed at the end of this chapter. You get dancing, Zeke flirting, Four flushing, and of course, thoughts of Tris invading the mind of our very own number boy!**

**Here we go!****

Four POV

I see her in the classroom, and see her in the diner moving effortlessly through the tables. I see her raise her hand or speak up to answer a question, and see her stepping in to the conversation between Shauna and Zeke. Why did she do that? Shauna could have answered for herself, but she seemed unsure before Tris stepped in. I see her interrupted or her idea – which is usually right – shot down by another classmate, and I see that guy from the diner grip her arm to hold her back. Reminding myself that they're supposed to discuss in class so I won't go over and tell the guy off. Holding myself back from intervening because I know she can handle her own. I see a flame in her blue-gray eyes that reminds me of sitting by a fire while watching a winter snow storm whirl around outside.

I feel drawn to this girl, but I know I shouldn't. I don't understand how I find myself incapable of taking my eyes off of her. How my heart beats fast just at the mention of her. She enters my dreams more and more. I used to never dream. Only nightmares. Her blonde hair that flows down her back, or bounces when she walks when it's in a ponytail. She wears hardly any makeup, and she's stunning. She's shy, and I want to know more.

The girl who spoke out about my name on the first day, Christina, has been hugging closer to Tris as the days press on. Slowly turning to weeks. I want to know why. I want to know why the fire in her eyes is slowly dying out. I want to know why she walks with her head down most days now, never meeting eye contact, especially with any of the guys. I want to know why she looks skittish but slowly relaxes whenever she walks into this class.

Amar looks a little worried too, when she walks in with a minute to spare before class. She hurries to her seat and continues to take deep breaths like she just had to fight for her life.

Only on occasion does she meet my eyes. I'm not sure I even feel bad or embarrassed when I'm caught staring at her anymore. I just want to know why she looks like a deer in headlights when she _does _look at me.

On the even rarer occasion that Christina catches her looking at me, she delivers a swift elbow to Tris's arm. Her face becomes a rosy red as she glares at Christina who gives her a smug smile in return. I have to keep myself from chuckling at those times.

I shouldn't be paying this much attention to her. But I can't help it.

Zeke on the other hand is having a very hard time shutting up about Shauna. Of course he makes sure to add in Lynn and their brother Hector who I just recently met, but most of the time its all about Shauna. I'm a little surprised to be honest, because Zeke has never really been a one girl kind of guy. There's something different with Shauna to him, and it makes him happy.

I'm happy for him, in the way a best friend should be happy. I'm also jealous. Zeke can be carefree sure, but he seems serious about this girl. I don't have near the guts he has when it comes to girls.

"Four you home?!" Zeke bangs on my door. I finally got all moved in and unpacked in my apartment. A ground floor thankfully.

I open the door for him. He's happy. Overly happy. A small box tucked under his arm.

"I have a riddle for you Four."

"Because I love riddles so much?" I ask sarcastically as I shut the door behind him.

He beams. "Yep!"

"Why are you so happy? Nothing good ever comes when you're this happy."

He smiles wider. "That's part of the riddle." He sets the box down on my small coffee table in the corner by the couch and turns back to me. "If you put lingerie, music, and alcohol together, what do you get?"

Oh great. "Regret?"

He smacks my shoulder. I glare at him. "Girls Four! Dancing, sweaty girls!"

"Joy." He wants to go out again. "Zeke if you bring a stripper here again I swear-"

"Calm your balls dude. I'm not bringing a stripper here." He smirks once again. "Maybe." I finally moved in about two weeks ago, and the second night here, he showed up with a female stripper in an outfit meant for someone with a much smaller body than hers. It was horrifying.

My glare hardens.

"We my friend, have been invited to the one, the only Dauntless night club!"

It grabs my attention, even though I try not to show it. "Night club? Really?" I've heard about Dauntless. It's one of those conversations that guys keep to themselves and other members. No one talks about it out loud in public because of the rumors that surround that place. It's a black-hole for your money and the rumors about the girls are even worse.

"You need to lighten up a bit. This is the best night club in all of Chicago! The best girls, the best music, the best booze. The one you need and invite to by a current member to get in? Any of this ringing a bell?"

"Aren't you also required to pay the dancers like a hundred dollars?"

"Only for a private dance."

I run a hand through my hair. It's getting long again, curling at the base of my neck. I need to cut it soon. "That's money I don't have Zeke. I just want to focus on finishing school in the next two years without piling up debt."

"My treat. Just once, tomorrow night, please?" I look down at my hands. "All you have to do is go once and you're members."

"And you can't go alone?"

"I would, except I need Uriah to think I'm hanging out with you."

I laugh. "You don't want your twenty year old younger brother to know you're going to a strip club? You, of all people. I thought you would be bragging to him."

"I will, as soon as I'm an official member. Besides he's busy tomorrow night, like he is every Friday night. I can't tell him beforehand since he wasn't invited."

"And I was? Or am I just your plus one?"

"No, you were specifically invited with me." Zeke says recalling something. Then he looks a little sheepish.

"Zeke, who invited us?"

He remains quiet, and looks around at anywhere but me.

"Zeke." My tone has become dark. I don't like using it on him. He calls it, my _teacher voice._

Finally he looks at me. "Eric."

My grip on the chair tightens. Eric Matheson. We grew up with that snob of a guy and never got along. He's selfish, cruel and disrespectful towards everyone who can't beat him in a fight. I can, I did. But he hates me because I wouldn't _finish him off._

"It's just one night Four, and it's not like he's going to be there with us. He's backstage remember?" Zeke is near pleading now. Yes I remember when Eric bragged to us about getting a job there as a scheduling manager. Then he got boosted to a head manager of the club. I hear their girls are on the tightest leash.

I roll my eyes slightly. "Zeke it's a strip club, you'll be regretting you went when you're thirty."

He gives me a look that says, _I will be that guy going still at thirty for shits and giggles. You know this._

Sighing, I give in. "Fine, one night. Two hours at most."

Zeke breaks out into another smile. "Thank you Four! Now you can have this." He pushes the box over to me. I open in cautiously. Inside, is an individual sized chocolate cake. Fresh too by the looks of it.

"Zeke, did you steal one of Uriah's cakes in order to convince me into going?"

He smiles wider. "Well, originally it was going to be that. Then I decided I'd just give it to you if you said yes."

"He won't be happy." I smirk at him. Uriah works at a bakery not far from campus, he's the head chef when it comes to cakes. His specialty, chocolate. Every now and then, Uriah gets a cake to take for himself. This must be that cake. With Uriah being like a little brother to me, I can't help but join Zeke in this scheme. "Should we eat it now?"

"Before he finds it yes." I go to grab forks from the kitchen and return to Zeke who has the cake out of the box now. We take our first bite and hum in delight. Zeke's phone goes off then, he looks at the caller ID, smirks, and he answers on speakerphone with a mouthful of cake.

"Hello?"

"Zeke. You had better not be eating what I think you're eating." Uriah.

"What are you talking about lil bro?"

"Mar said you stopped by a little earlier and left with something under your coat."

He laughs. "I wouldn't wear a coat inside, it's too warm. She must be seeing things."

Uriah is silent. "Zeke." His voice dangerously low.

"Yes Uri?" Zeke's voice sweet. I'm trying hard not to choke on my cake laughing.

"Is FUCKING FOUR there?!"

I laugh out loud this time. Zeke does too.

"Sorry Uri, snooze you lose." Zeke sings into the phone. Then hangs up before Uriah can unleash some unkind words at us.

"We are in so much trouble." I say taking another bite.

"I don't even feel bad about it." He smirks. We finish off the cake fairly quickly. Once Zeke told me we could relax and eat it since Uriah doesn't get off work for another hour or so.

We're both reclined in the seats of the couch, some sports game playing on Zeke's phone. I don't have a television.

"I'm going to ask Shauna out." He says suddenly.

I turn to him. "I thought you guys had already gone out." I remember going with him to the store to buy her some earrings. He wanted my opinion because I'm _so_ experienced in this matter. No, he really just didn't want to go alone.

He shrugs. "Technically we have, but only as friends. I want to be more with her Four. She's just this amazing girl who knows everything about me, from my impressively funny nature," I roll my eyes. "To my dashing good looks, my intense love of cake, and my heart for family." My face becomes serious once more. "She knows me, and yet it feels like I know nothing about her. But I want to get to know her. More than anything I've wanted in a while. She's like this magnet that is sucking me towards her, and I'm willing to fall in."

"Poetic."

"Shut up and let me finish." He slaps my arm. "There's definitely something about her that she's not telling me. I don't know what it is, but I want to find out. If there was a major at school called Shauna Studies, I would sign up in a heartbeat. No laughing. I could spend the rest of my life finding out about her and be happy."

The air becomes thick suddenly.

"Did I just…"

I look over at him. "You just admitted, in a way, that you want to spend the rest of your life with a girl." My eyes wide with worry for him. "Are you feeling okay?"

He glares at me. Then his face softens. "I'm not even that freaked out by it."

"There must have been something in that cake Zeke. You're talking serious stuff about a girl. I don't know whether to take you to a doctor, or congratulate you."

"I'm serious."

"I know, and it's scaring me."

He sits up more now. "I'm I going crazy?"

"I don't think so." I smirk then. "As sappy as it sounds, I think you're falling in love."

Zeke looks a little shocked by me saying it out loud. "Never thought that'd happen." Then he turns to me. "What about you?"

"What do you mean what about me?"

"I haven't seen you with a girl in… well I was going to say forever but I can't really think of a girl you've gone on more than a few dates with. What about that one girl, what was her name? Started with an L…"

"Lauren?" I offer, mentally sighing. Lauren was a girl in one of my classes two years ago. Not one that I was a T.A. for, but one that I was a student for. We were partners on a final project, and after a lot of convincing by Zeke, I asked her out after we received our grade. She was a little older than me, but neither of us cared. It was hard to find time to go out though, she was always busy at nights. Sunday's were her only days off. To say that we only went out three times in the whole three weeks we were together isn't true. We went out in the mornings to breakfast occasionally, but she was always tired. And she was always looking over her shoulder like we were being followed. I wanted to ask her about it, but whenever I brought it up she quickly changed the subject. She wanted to move fast when it came to the physical side of the relationship and that was something I just wasn't up for. We split in less than a month. Well, she split it. Said it wasn't working. I didn't complain. I haven't seen her since.

"That's the one. You were with her the longest."

"Three weeks Zeke. That's more of a prescription rotation than a relationship."

He clicks his tongue. "What about that waitress?" This grabs my attention, and he sees it. A smile breaks onto his face once more. "Yeah, that waitress from the Pit. Shauna's friend. Tris."

"Tris." I repeat quietly.

"You so like her." He nudges me, his smile widens. He even waggles his eyebrows a little.

I grunt.

He makes kissing noises and puckers his lips at me.

"You're acting like a five year old." I punch him in the shoulder.

"Uh-uh no way you're changing the subject on me now. Why don't you ask her out? She was pretty, and a little feisty too. Definitely you're type. Plus Shauna said she's single."

"Why did she say that exactly?" I eye him.

"There's a possibility that I asked her about Tris for you."

"Zeke…"

"I said there was a possibility. If you're happy with this knowledge then it was definitely me who asked. If you're not happy however, then it was Uriah."

I run a hand down my face groaning. "No thanks Zeke. Not interested." _I am interested._

His eyes narrow at me. "Liar." _Total liar._

I glare at him. Keeping my feelings guarded is something I've come to master. Even from Zeke when it comes to matters of the heart. I don't like talking about them, sharing them, or even acknowledging them. When I can avoid it, I do.

When I was six, just before my mother died, I had my first childhood crush. A girl, whose name I didn't even know was the first person to really smile at me and try to get to know me. She had dark hair like mine, but darker skin than mine too. Not quite as dark as Zeke, but more of a caramel color. She had soft brown eyes and a gentle voice. She was nice to me, and that touched me somewhere deep in my six year old heart. I later found out her name was Juanita. But she moved away before I could ask her to even hold my hand. I had come home crying when I found out. My mother held me, understanding that my _first love_ had left, and my father, Marcus… well, when my mother left the room he smacked me across the face and told me to grow up. Making some comment that no girl would ever want me. That I was pathetic. That I shouldn't even bother with girls, because they're trouble.

I told Zeke about Juanita when I was young, but never about the part with my father.

He frowns. "I just want to see you happy Four. Everyone deserves happiness."

My expression softens slightly. "Uriah is rubbing off on you."

He punches me in the shoulder again. "Maybe that's a good thing." Then he smiles. "Maybe you'll meet the girl of your dreams tomorrow night at the club."

I laugh to humor him. "Maybe." I'm not looking forward to it honestly, but Zeke would do anything for me, so I can suffer two hours at a night club. Besides, who wants to be known as the one guy in the universe that passed up a strip club?

* * *

><p>The place is completely packed, and don't even bother trying to find a pace to park. I saw one girl get stopped trying to go around back by security. She must have one connection or another because he soon let her by. Other girls tried to follow her lead, but they were stopped instantly.<p>

We have to wear black apparently to get in. So every girl is wearing something black. Up at the head of the line, the bouncer is checking one girl who flashes him a black bra. He smiles at her and lets her and her friends in. I roll my eyes. Zeke and I are both wearing black shirts and black jackets. He wanted to go all out and wear black jeans and shoes. I just stuck with a pair of dark blue jeans.

Zeke couldn't stop smiling the whole time we waited in line to get in. I was honestly a little concerned with how many girls there were in line. I know it's not uncommon for girls to like going to strip clubs, but the ratio of girls to guys was outstanding. I only saw about twenty guys in line while we waited, verses close to a hundred girls.

Up at the front of the door, a tall burly guy in sunglasses stops us like everyone else. I never understood why bouncers felt the need to wear them.

"Names." He says in a quick clipped tone.

"Zeke Pedrad and Four Eaton." Zeke says still smiling as he throws an arm around me.

He eyes us over. "You're new. Who were you invited by?"

"Eric Matheson." Zeke says smiling in a manner that suggests he's up to no good.

The bouncer flinches at Eric's name ever so slightly. But then talks into his cell phone like a radio. He looks at us and waits for a reply. When it comes in, a smirk takes over his face. "Go right on in." I watch the bouncer carefully, as he watches us. Zeke walks in happily and tugs on my arm. I hear the bouncer laughing as we disappear in the doorway.

It's a short hallway with red carpet and black walls. A large mirror on one side stretching the length of the hallway, and a little window to what looks like a coat room on the other. Another man who could easily pass as a bouncer stands behind the counter taking bags and coats and passing out cards for people to be able to pick their stuff back up. It's completely packed with purses and female coats. Something is definitely off.

Zeke passes his coat along and receives a card as well.

"Coat sir." The one behind the counter asks gruffly.

"No thanks." I respond stiffly, resisting the urge to wrap my arms around myself defensively.

He shrugs and smirks lightly. "Suit yourself. But it's hot in there."

"Come on Four." Zeke tugs at my arm like a little kid at a water park. Eager to go down the big slide first. I roll my eyes at him and follow. Once again, I hear the bouncer snicker. I know there's the possibility that I'm paranoid but it all seems to be directed at me. Am I acting strange or something?

At the end of the hallway is a flight of stairs, black stairs with a red light hanging above as the only light source. They spiral down at least two flights. The lower we go, the louder the music becomes. At the base, we can see strobe lights going off. I can tell that Zeke is more excited than he has been in a long time. He just admitted yesterday that he could be in love with Shauna, and now he's anxious to see other females in skimpy clothing that their parents would disapprove of.

The ground beneath us feels almost like rubber, but it's solid for sure. It's black with what looks like flecks of neon paint scattered on the ground, and they glow under a black light that hangs from the ceiling.

There are girls _everywhere_. And not the dancing kind. They sit in tables, booths, up on an upper ring around the floor, and in the middle of the dance floor for guests, but not on the stage.

I tug Zeke backwards to the bar in the back of the room. It seems that most of the guys here have gravitated back here.

"You get dragged here by your girl too?" One of them turns to ask me.

I don't know exactly what to say.

"Four come on! We need to find a seat!" Zeke says impatiently tugging on my arm. He looks like a little kid in a candy store.

I look back at the guy. He eyes me carefully and inches away. "He's my friend." I say to him over the growing music.

His look softens a bit. "You're a good friend." Then he goes back to a conversation with someone else. What exactly does that mean?

"Zeke, why are there so many girls here?" I grab him by the collar as he almost follows a group of girls who walk by.

"Huh?"

"I've never been to a strip club before, but I'm pretty sure that this many girls never show up to watch female strippers."

Zeke takes a second to really look around. "Maybe they're into that kind of thing. Ooh! Maybe it's a lesbian night!"

My eyes harden at him. But before I can say anything else, the music picks up. Louder, faster, stronger. The girls in the room begin to scream and raise their drinks in the air. Some dance faster and others begin to clap.

That's when I realize what's going on. A poster to the left of the room with a big black and white picture of a male model it looks like, in a compromising position, and the words _Night of Testosterone_ written in big red letters. The date beneath it, is today's date.

I want to punch Zeke in the face. Not only did he drag me to a strip club, but he dragged me here on the one night they have male dancers.

The first one walks out in a pair of black short shorts, suspenders and a fireman's hat. The girls go crazy. I peak a look over at Zeke, whose excitement is slowly dying down to confusion.

"Wha..?" He watches as more male dancers take the stage, and some take the floor, giving lap dances to girls and dry humping them. It's horrifying to watch. Like live porn as Zeke would call it. Live _teasing._ All of the guys around us seem to have a similar feeling of discomfort as I do. And if they're actually here with girlfriends, sisters, wives, or whatever, then they must feel worse than I do.

I can feel my face heating up at the thought of what these guys are going through. How can they allow such a thing? It doesn't make any sense to me. Sure I get that there's nothing wrong with partners having fun on their own, but did they really need to bring their guy along? I know I wouldn't like it. What's mine is mine.

_Her_ face comes to mind. I push it away. She's not mine. Feelings of jealousy and confusion rush through me. What if she already has a guy? The thought makes my chest hurt. I turn back to the bar and put my head down. I can't think with the loud music playing.

"Four?" Zeke's hand is on my shoulder. We've been played.

"It's a male stripper night Zeke." I groan at him.

"Yeah I figured that much out." He sighs sadly next to me.

He's still not getting it. "Eric invited us to the night of male strippers!" I shout, though it doesn't sound like shouting in here.

His face turns like he's eaten something sour. "But at least we're members now."

I glare at him. Then turn and start walking away. I'm leaving.

"Four!" Zeke pushes through the crowd.

"They thought you were my gay friend, the way you were acting, hurrying to get in here. That's why the bouncers were laughing."

"Or we could have been gay lovers on a night out. You are wearing a leather jacket after all." He smirks, trying to get me to smile I think.

It doesn't work. "I'm going." I turn and walk away.

"Oh come on."

"I'm not going to sit here and watch guys dance like this for girls."

He pulls on my coat. My neck heats up as the spotlight flashes over us only briefly. That must be why the dancers wear hardly anything at all. Zeke looks at me pleading. "You said two hours!"

"That was before I knew it was male strippers." I push back trying to get away from him.

"Jeez Four, just enjoy the embarrassing moment. We'll laugh about it later. But hey, we're members now." He adds once more, as if saying that will get me to stay. He was trying to look on the bright side of things. A groan builds in my chest.

"Fine. But you owe me."

He smiles. "Of course. Anyway, it won't be that bad. We'll just sit back and watch. Have a few drinks. It will be funny in the morning." Somehow I don't think it will be funny for another ten years.

"I hate you." I growl as we walk back to the bar.

"You love me and you know it." He adds with a little extra flare as we pass other guys at the bar. They look at me sympathetically. I brush them off. But when Zeke orders us fruity drinks with paper umbrellas, I want to punch him in the face.

"If I'm going to laugh about it, I'm going to make sure it's definitely worth laughing about." He says as he hands me the drink. I'm really suppressing the urge to clock him.

I take a seat at the bar, holding the blue and pink drink with a stern expression. I probably look ridiculous. I even glance at the other guys for help, but they seem to be caught up in their own conversations. Keeping their heads down as their girls, whoever they are scream with joy.

A young man pushes his way up to the bar. I say young because he looks young in the face, but he has to be close to my age. His voice is too deep. He's wearing a tight black shirt and even tighter jeans. Too tight. He orders some kind of elaborate drink that I've never heard of.

I tried my best to look straight ahead at the dancers since Zeke was off somewhere flirting with a group a girls here for a 21st birthday. He said his angle was to be a guy either into guys or to swing both ways so they would trust that he's not there simply to hit on them. So far it looks like it's working. But I could feel eyes on me, and I have an unfortunate tendency not to look away when someone was looking at me. I find that if I look back at them, they'll stop it. I don't like to be looked at much.

"It's not polite to stare." I say gruffly looking at the young man.

Sure enough, he's staring at me. His dark eyes look me up and down. His mocha skin seems to have a sheen layer of sweat, as though he just finished dancing with the male strippers. Actually that's not a very fair term. Stripper indicates that they'll take off more clothes, but these guys are already wearing next to nothing.

"Sorry, I thought I knew you from somewhere." He answers kindly. Then looks away.

"George! George man where are those drinks?" A second young man comes up to the bar. He too looks sweaty and out of breath. He has much lighter skin than this George character, and only wears a loose black shirt and a pair of jeans. No shoes. Odd.

"They're coming." He smiles at the second guy, who then turns his look to me.

"Hey I know you."

"No, you probably don't." I say setting the colorful drink Zeke ordered for me down on the counter. He's still not back. I glance over to the direction he disappeared to and see him up against the wall making out with a girl wearing a tiara and short black dress. I roll my eyes and mumble some unkind words under my breath.

"Yeah! Yeah I do know you!" George looks at me. "You're Amar's T.A. Four."

This grabs my attention. "You know Amar?"

George looks a little guilty then. Picking up the drink that was just set down by the bartender. "I figured he wouldn't mention me. I'm George Wu, Amar's ex-boyfriend."

Well I certainly wasn't expecting that. I had always had my suspicions about Amar's preferences when it came to matters of the heart, but I never asked because it was never my business. "Oh. No he's never mentioned you." George looks a little worse. "But we never talk about personal relationships so that might be why."

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better." He says grimly, but manages to smile.

The second guy pats George's shoulder. New boyfriend maybe? Then he turns to me. "I know you from school. You T.A. a class a friend of mine is in."

"Which friend?" I ask sarcastically.

"Her name is Beatrice." Everything slows down. He says something else but I don't really hear him. "You might not know her, but she's in an English class of yours." Tris, her stern expression flashes in front of me. Heat creeps up my neck and threatens to show on my face. _Stop it Four!_ "I've seen you walk out of the building after her." Then he laughs to himself. "Well I mean not _right _after her because that would be creepy." He extends a hand to me. "I'm Robert."

He's the one she meets after class with Christina. I recognize him now. After only seeing him from a distance before, now here he is.

I don't shake his hand. He begins to pull it away. "It's not you." I say to him. "I don't shake hands, with anyone."

He smiles then. A little sloppily. Perhaps he's already had too much to drink. "You afraid of germs?"

"Something like that."

George and Robert leave then, going back to a table with a few others and they continue to laugh and drink. I watch them for a little while. Knowing that the pair of eyes who were looking at me before are now gone, but I can't help but feel like I'm still being watched.

A flash of blonde hair catches my attention to the side of the stage. But it soon turns out to be a girl in a tight blue and black dress, piss drunk. I release a heavy sigh I didn't know I was holding. Why am I looking for blonde hair?

The name _Tris_ appears in my head in Zeke's voice. I put my head back down on the table. I can't be constantly thinking about her. Even with her stormy eyes, bright hair and a stare that could stop any man in his tracks. What makes it even more attractive, is that she doesn't flaunt it. I wonder if she even knows she has that ability? That makes it even more attractive. Dammit.

Zeke has now returned. A huge grin on his face. He sways a little, and mumbles something about how many numbers he got. I smile a little, thinking about how hung over he's going to be.

"How are you ladies liking the show?" A hard icy voice says to us.

"Just fine Eric. Thank you so much for inviting us." Zeke slurs slapping Eric on the back. "Do you know how many digits I've gotten from drunk girls this fine night? So many!" He laughs.

Eric looks a little angry at this outburst. He mumbles something like _idiot_ under his breath and shrugs Zeke's arm off his back.

"And you Four? Enjoying yourself?" He smirks a little at me. He knows my rather harsh upbringing. He used to call me Stiff for how easy it was to make me flush with embarrassment.

"It's different than anything I've experienced so far that's for sure." I comment, my face strictly stern.

His smile widens. "I figured you would enjoy tonight. But now that you're members, you're more than welcome to come back any other night you please. I would recommend Tuesdays, Thursdays or Saturdays." He winks at Zeke, who hasn't noticed at all.

Why is he being so nice? Eric is never nice. He always has something else on his mind. "We will fo sho!" Zeke shouts obnoxiously. I have no idea how many drinks or shots he had when flirting around, but he's definitely done for the night.

I hear some other shouting and Eric begins to direct his smirk at Zeke, his eyes flitting back to the stage. An announcer suddenly shouts out a name and the females of the crowd begin chanting, "Snake! Snake! Snake!" I hope it's just a name and not some sexual innuendo.

A man with dark skin is raised onto the stage on a platform from somewhere below. He keeps his head down. A black trench coat over his body and a black fedora covering his head. This is practically asking for trouble, I can only imagine where its going to lead.

The music slows down and he begins to walk out on the catwalk in the middle of the guest dance floor. Girls frantically reach up to touch him. Even his boots. He flashes a white smile, but I still can't see his face.

At the first sound of a pounding drum, the coat comes off, and the hat flies somewhere into the crowd. He stomps the ground and begins some kind of tribal looking dance. I have to say, he is mesmerizing the way he moves. It's impressive how he keeps to the fast beat. But then he looks up and dread fills my stomach. My head spins and I can only imagine what Zeke is thinking.

Zeke has frozen in place and sobered up immediately.

"I thought you said he was busy tonight." I say looking over at Zeke.

He just nods, and then falls over backwards, out cold.

Eric just laughs and motions for some of his goons to help pull Zeke up. I follow them and watch as they lead him out of the club. I pick up his coat for him and then help Zeke to his car. I drive him home. I put him in his own bed. Laying him face down in case he gets sick and place his garbage bin on the side of the bed. Wishing I too could slip into unconsciousness after what was just revealed.

Uriah is a male dancer. I'm not sure if Zeke will yell at him, make fun at him, or use him to get girls. Either way, I should steer clear of it when it does happen.

I hear Zeke groan from the bed. He rolls over and pukes. Missing the bin.

It's going to be a long night.

****Please review!****


	9. Chapter 9

****Here we go again! Chapter 9 my lovelies! **

**I can't decide if the end of this chapter will make you guys happy or sad or frustrated or what, but I'm looking forward to hearing what you guys think. Some of you might yell at me…**

**BTW, for those of you waiting for Tris's figure to change, there is some of that in this chapter. It should be explained when the scene comes up, but it's a little different than a simple implant or surgery. It involves, hint hint, Jeanine. Ooh ahh!**

**I absolutely LOVED your reactions to the FourXZeke chapter this last week! I'm so glad that it got such positive feedback. I can guarantee you guys some FourXTris soon! But I'm not telling when! Could be this chapter, or the next…**

**Yes I agree, Eric is a butt head, but that's just who he is. And now that Four and Zeke are members, anyone thinking that they're going back to Dauntless to check out the girls?**

**And a little heads up, there is a week time gap, so last week was Friday night dancers and now its the Saturday, a week later. Just so ya know.**

**That's it for now honey-bunches! Enjoy!****

Tris POV

"Problem problem problem!" Christina yanks on my arm and pulls me off to the side of the building as we're leaving from a long day at the Pit and heading to Dauntless. Saturday dancing nights are my least favorite. Hoo-rah.

"What?" I ask, semi annoyed from the days events. I had unsuccessfully managed to avoid Professor Thompson yet again and was corned by him as I was waiting for Christina to come out of the locker room from our Physical Education class this last Thursday. He had gripped my wrists too tight, pressed up too close to me and whispered certain things in my ear that I would never want to hear again.

She looks around quickly before lowering her voice. "I think Shauna's in love." Then she mumbles something else.

I roll my eyes. "Anyone can see that." Zeke had stopped by again today, but only briefly, seeing as apparently there was somewhere he needed to be tonight. He seemed fidgety and a little nervous. More so than usual that is. Four was here too. I didn't look at him. I avoided him completely really. He only stayed by the front door while Zeke and Shauna talked. They're getting riskier. Even Harrison, who was our guard dog tonight, had risen from his seat and told Shauna to get back to work.

Christina shakes her head then. And points to herself. "Yeah but, she's not the _only_ one in love."

My thoughts flash to that guy I saw her with after Amar's class a week ago. "Chris…?"

Her head dives into her hands and her body wracks a sob. "I tried Tris I really did, but I couldn't, stop it from happening. I don't know what to do."

"Who is he?" I ask guiding her slowly to her car that we always take to the club. If Max is watching the security cameras around this area, I'll just tell him she had a really stressful day today.

"He's no one really. Just this guy that keeps popping up in my day to day life. He's in one of my classes, and now I'm seeing him on my day off and he's come into the Pit a few times." Her voice evens out a bit. I don't remember seeing her pay any extra attention to anyone recently. "He's even started to hold my hand whenever we're together. It was just one of those things that I knew. That bottom of your stomach gut feeling that never fails you." She sighs into my shoulder. "I'm in such deep shit."

I nod. "Yeah, only if Max finds out." Not bothering to tell her the most recent news about Prof Thompson. He's been sneakier recently. I wish he would screw up.

She looks at me oddly as we get into her car. "That's not exactly the same reaction you had when Shauna broke down about Zeke. Why the change of heart?"

I release a heavy breath. I know Christina would keep it a secret if she tried, but I don't know if I should tell her about Four. The guy from my class who won't stop looking at me like some hurt puppy. The one who has recently begun invading my dreams. I can't tell her that I've been having the same reaction as her and seeing him everywhere I go, even if it's not technically him. I see black jackets and short brown hair, deep blue eyes and a stern face. It's everywhere I go. Even from Dauntless last Friday. I made sure to stay backstage and out of sight the entire time. Yesterday I saw a guy come into the Pit with a spare upper lip and a full bottom lip that made my heart clench. Even though I told it not to.

"Maybe I'm starting to feel a little rebellious." I tell her.

She smiles a little. Then frowns. "It just sucks you know. When we were sixteen, it seemed so simple. No boys, just work."

"Keep in mind that was four years ago."

"Yeah. I always thought once our teenage years passed, those raging hormones would die down."

I laugh. "How's that working out for you?"

She punches me in the arm, but lightly so it wouldn't leave a mark. Max would kill her. "Shut up. Health was never my best subject."

"Hopefully it will get easier."

She starts the car and pulls out of the lot. "Yeah, hopefully."

"What's his name?" I ask her once we're on the road.

She smiles when she speaks. "Will."

It was almost ten by the time we got to the club, our first show was in a half hour. Cara was starting it off tonight. It was early December now, and except for tonight, I hadn't actually seen Four since that first night in the Pit, class was the only time I got to see him, and when he showed up at Dauntless last week for _Night of Testosterone_. Part of me wishes he would come back and see me in action. I can't decide if it's because I want him to see me as sexy or as a girl he needs to stay away from. Then again if he's the chivalrous knight in shining armor then he might try to help me. Do I want his help? The reasonable part of my head screams at him to stay away.

Dauntless is packed as usual. The lineup outside is ridiculous. Not to mention it's a Saturday night. More people are out and about in the night life.

I see a familiar black jacket, but brush it off. Just my mind playing tricks on me once again. There are a hundred black jackets in that line up.

We pull up around the back where all dancers or staff park, away from the crowds. Lauren-… Glo is waiting by the back door and lets us in as usual.

All of the girls are here except Molly and Cara. Molly I'm not surprised about, she'll probably be going to the Gutter soon if she's late again. But Cara… Not good. If she's not stage ready in ten minutes Eric will have her head, cut her pay, and then make her work extra hours with Cage time.

Peter is sitting on my makeup table, smirking at me. I roll my eyes and walk past him into the dressing area. Tonight's outfit consists of a black and red push up bra that shows off my raven tattoos quite nicely, black leather short shorts that could pass off as boy short panties, and fishnet stockings, also black. How original. Christina is wearing something similar, except where I wear red, she wears black, and where I wear black, she wears a dark violet. I slide on my boots last. I suppose that could be considered a bonus from working here, getting really good at wearing heels.

"Raven, my office." Eric's voice catches me off guard. Christina shoots me an odd look, as does Shauna when I walk past them. It's then that I notice Cara walking _out_ of Eric's office, fully decked out in her gear. At least she's on time. She looks pale.

Eric's office is small compared to the whole building, but it's enough. A desk against the back wall, some file cabinets and pictures of all the girls, past and present to join Dauntless. Since Molly was the newest addition to the group just two years ago, her picture is in last. All the pictures of the girls are in the outfits they wore on their first days, including me.

The one picture that was completely taken down many years ago, was that of the notorious Storm. The one Dauntless dancer who got away. It was said that she was Dauntless for the longest time, then was transferred to Abnegation, and that's when she split.

We all have black picture frames indicating a start at Dauntless, and a small colored ribbon hangs off of the frames of girls who left Dauntless. Well, not left so to say, as were transferred. Blue for Erudite, white for Candor, yellow for Amity, gray for Abnegation, purple for the Gutter, and a black ribbon diagonal through the picture if the girl is dead or assumed dead. It's in that moment that I notice a blue ribbon on Cara's picture.

I gape a little at the sight. Cara is being transferred. She might fit in better at Erudite, but that's going to be hard on her. Jeanine Mathews is the head manager of Erudite, and I heard she can be cruel like Eric, but she likes to psychologically manipulate people rather than physical harm. I don't know which would be worse.

"Trinity is leaving us as you can see." I turn back to Eric as he gestures to Cara's picture. She joined just a few months after Christina and me. "So we're bringing in someone new." He holds up an empty black picture frame. "She starts Tuesday night, and I want you to show her the ropes. Bring her in Monday night to watch from backstage as group one performs and help get her," he smirks. "Mentally prepared. She's a pretty one. Much more of a feminine body than some other dancers." He smiles wider. I know he's talking about me. "Her name is Cherry. You can ask her real name when you meet her if you care." He sits at his desk.

"Is that all?" I ask trying not to sound too annoyed.

"Almost." He smiles again. "You are one of our best dancers Raven, you have the most fans and the biggest group of men who ask for you, and that's because they like the innocent little girl act." He motions to my chest. "But it's time to grow up."

"Sorry, I don't really control that kind of thing." I say back with a little more sass than necessary.

He holds back a frown. "Exactly, which is why we've decided to put you on a test run. The first to use it actually." He pulls something out of his desk. A needle. "Hormones, you see. They're supposed to do some shit to your body, and result in a more womanly figure faster than your body is allowing."

I gulp.

"Jeanine invented it actually. She is a very intelligent woman."

"You sound like a fan."

"I would be stupid not to be. Now it will take some time, but you are to have one of these shots every other day for the next two weeks. Starting now." He hands me the needle. "Into your hip to be sufficient. Then in two weeks' time, you should have hips and breasts for once in your life. It should last six months, but then again, this is just a test. I'd offer to buy you new clothing, but that's not my job. You and Candy are close, go ask her to take you shopping. You're gonna need it."

Bile rises in my throat. Sure my body isn't the best for this job, but I don't want it to change that much. I like my body. What if it's permanent? I hate needles.

"Well, shows about to start. Get on with it." He says annoyed.

I bite my lip and carefully stick myself with the needle, pushing in the clearish-blue liquid. It doesn't sting, not really.

He smiles. "Good, now go finish getting ready."

I nod and set the needle on his desk, then quickly walk out of the room pressing a finger to the injection site to stop the small traces of blood.

Peter is right outside waiting for me. "I see Eric gave you the shot. I asked him if I could be the one to give it to you." I grimace and try to push past him. "He said no, that you had to do it yourself. Legal purposes and all. But I do get to watch you each day and make sure you take it." He smiles.

"Fuck off Peter." He still doesn't move. "I need to finish getting ready." He smiles wider.

"I know. But I do need to tell you that you've been booked twice tonight in the private rooms."

"Okay fine, which ones and what time?"

"Room 2 at 11pm, and Room 5 at midnight. Each a half hour long."

"Okay, thanks." I say this time elbowing past him. Room 2 should get me tips, since I just dance with a pole right in front of a small group of men, sometimes women. Room 5 though will slow me down. In that room I dance behind a wall of glass while they watch me. Not as easy to get tips there. But it does cost more to have that room. Better seating and lighting. So it should go towards my earnings.

I sit down at my station and begin to apply the heavy makeup. Not nearly as heavy as some of the other girls but it's heavy for me. Thick black liner and smoky shadow. Red lips tonight to match my outfit. Christina has the same idea with purple lipstick to match hers. She slides her hair extensions into place so no one will recognize her. I slide my black wig on as well, it's shaped to look like a messy ponytail with large black waves in the back, and bangs in front. I slide on some fake stud diamond earrings and declare myself ready.

The music started not that long ago, and most of the girls are out doing a backup dance to Cara's main session. Molly finally decided to show up. Eric hounded her, but she didn't seem to care. I can tell he wants her out. He'd much rather keep Cara, but Molly brings in money and Max doesn't usually question how. So she stays.

Lynn and I are the only ones apart from Molly who aren't on stage. I suppose this is a sendoff for Cara in a way. She dances hard and long as the song continues on. My favorite kind of music is when there are drums involved. The steady beating is really what gets me going.

I walk out into the crowds with Lynn and Christina when she's done on stage and Shauna and Tori take over. Molly gets put in the Tank. We're just wading through, offering lap dances and asking in a very seductive manner if everyone is having a good time. A few of the guys offer to buy me drinks or _buy _me for the night. Eric says we can only have two shots a night to loosen up if need be, but no more. As for when they ask my price for the night, I tell them in the _kindest _way possible that they couldn't afford me, and to go look for a prostitute. I'm a dancer, not a whore.

The effects of whatever drug I gave myself have begun to take their toll. I'm flittering around, smiling and even giggling, but my breasts hurt. It feels like I'm on my period in my abdomen. The happy side though ignores it.

I feel bubbly and it's strange. I get the feeling that more eyes than usual are one me, but it must be a paranoia side effect of the drug.

11pm rolls around soon enough and I'm getting ready in the back room behind private room 2. It's a group of five guys here for a bachelor party of sorts. I make sure they have fun, and focus on the groom-to-be the most. They shove money at me when I shake my ass, flip my hair or do the splits upside-down while holding onto the pole.

I take a small break after, my boots already full of money. I walk backstage and make sure Peter is present when I empty my boots. He looks impressed. I can't help the smile on my face, but it feels wrong. Too happy. I walk back out, boots free of money and continue to work the crowd as Raven.

Cara had just gone backstage for a private dance of sorts when I feel a hand on my shoulder.

"Hey Raven, I want a lap dance." His voice is tangled with alcohol.

I glance at the clock, fifteen minutes until I'm scheduled next, I can manage one lap dance. I don't even recognize the guy, but he seems familiar. I decide to add a little extra friendliness to this one. Spice it up a bit. Maybe it'll bring in more money.

A few guys around us cheer me on as I sensually tease the guy up and down, side to side, and a few other directions. Heck, I feel like I could go inside out if it was possible. I feel invincible right now. Blood rushing and everything is perfect. Heart beat steady to the sound of the drums in the music, the spotlight finds me more than once, and the noise gets louder.

When the time is up, the guy looks to be in shock. Wide eyed, and mouth hanging open. His friends have shoved more than enough money to cover the dance into my boots, shorts and bra.

"See ya later boys." I blow a kiss at them and they scramble like cartoon characters to catch it.

Room 5 is filled with a small handful of what looks like guys fresh out of high school. Interesting. But they go silent when they see me walk in and the lights lower. It's like they've never seen a dancer of my profession up close before. This should be fun. Maybe they're rich kids. More than enough money comes out of their pockets as I dance for them. Trying something new rather than sticking to the pole the whole time, I press myself up against the glass divider that separates myself from the small audience. I watch them almost with desperate eyes, like I'm reaching for them. I twist and turn and they reach the edge of their seats.

When the half hour is over. I even give them a small bow as I exit. I hear more than a few of them groan that they should have paid for the hour long dance.

I can't help the smile on my face.

Even Eric couldn't wipe it off when he walked by me in the back hallways of the private rooms. He watched me carefully, then looked at the total I made by dancing in that one private room. It's hard to surprise Eric, so when his eyes widened just for a moment, I smiled harder. He doesn't say anything, and I don't expect him to. Just keep walking.

Everything is perfect right now.

"Hello Raven."

Except for that.

He leans up against the wall, just under the overhead lighting advertising the private rooms.

"Hello." My happy dies down a little.

"How many did you dance for?"

"People?" I ask to clarify.

He nods, stiffly. His face now visible as he moves to show that he is in a somewhat angry state of mind. He also looks like he's had a few to drink. The side of his mouth hangs open slightly. I can smell it on him.

"Ten maybe." I answer honestly.

I hear him growl slightly.

"That's my job. You shouldn't be getting angry about it. It's my life. You don't own me." I snap, yet a smile reappears on my face.

He doesn't like this response. He moves as though he's about to strike me for talking back to him. When Eric walks in. Never in my life had I thought I would be happy to see his cold face.

"Is there a problem here?" He's directly talking to Professor Thompson. He actually moves to stand in front of me. Defending me. I must have made more money than I thought in order to have him become protective of me. My smile widens.

"No. No problem." He slurs a little. Much more than he did a minute ago. He's acting. Clever boy.

"Need I remind you Connor that you do not get to buy the girls? You cannot always book them for yourself." Has this happened before? "We don't want a repeat of last time, right?" That answers my question.

He grumbles and looks down at his feet.

"Eric I need you-… oh, sorry, I didn't realize I was interrupting anything." His voice mumbles as he slows down. Al, our technician says coming to a halt in front of us.

Eric looks at him annoyed. I just watch him. Anything but looking at Professor _Connor_ Thompson. We hardly ever see Al, since he sets up all the timers for the lights and music during the day. But on occasion he's here at night. Honestly, I haven't seen him up close in two months. His dark hair is longer, and now hanging in his eyes. I give him a small smile. He's always been a friend since Christina and I got here. Nothing more. His blue green eyes flash to mine and he returns the smile.

Eric turns back to Thompson and says a few words to him that make him grumble even more, but gets him to walk off.

"What do you want?" He asks now looking at Al.

"One of the lights went out. I can manage for tonight, but there's none left in the supply room. We need more."

Eric nods. "I'll fill out an order form." Then his glare hardens. "Why didn't you tell me we were running low? You're supposed to come to me when we're down to five."

Al tried not to look annoyed. He actually looked a little frightened under Eric's questioning glare. "I went to Peter like you told me to last time. I told him we were getting close when we hit ten, and then asked him to fill out a request when we hit five." He shrugs his shoulders. "If you're going to blame anyone, blame him. I have my copy of the request that I gave him from two weeks ago."

He looks at Al carefully. I try to slip by him since I have a stage performance coming up soon.

"Not yet Raven. I need to talk to you." Eric says, cold and unwavering. I feel myself shiver, and he's not even looking at me.

"I will check on the paper work and talk to Peter." He says to Al. "Now get back up there."

Al nods and looks at me one last time. Al and I have been friends for almost four years, and he still doesn't even know my real name. He can't. It's not like I haven't seen him outside of Dauntless. He knows my hair color is really a non-highlighted blonde, and that I never wear this much makeup in public. But he doesn't know my name. He doesn't know any of our real names. And he doesn't ask. Something I've always admired about him. He's not nosy, and knows that when it's not his business, don't ask questions. I don't even know his full name. All I know him by, is Al.

"Raven." Eric says turning to me once Al is gone. His voice a little less icy.

"Yes?"

"Why does Connor follow you like that?"

I'm sure I don't know what you mean Eric, except for the fact that he's my new number one fan and loves to harass me. "I don't know."

His eyes narrow. "You're hiding something."

_Really? What was it that tipped you off?_ "What?"

"Don't test my patience Raven. You know I'll find out sooner or later. And if it ends up being later and you didn't tell me, it'll be worse for you." His voice lowers dramatically. Normally I would shrink away from him to subtly let him know that he still has power over me. But I don't really feel like doing that right now. I feel bold.

Tell him. "He has some kind of fetish for me I guess. I gave him a private dance not that long ago, and he _really_ enjoyed it." His eyes widen a little. I think the most protective I've ever seen him, is when one of us girls is in trouble. Partially because Max would fire him and make his life Hell if anything ever happened to us. "Ever since then he's been after me." That's part of the truth.

Eric seems to think this over for a moment. "I'll let it slide this time. Next time I expect you to come to me sooner."

"Yes sir." I say, my smile returning. I'm happy again.

He smirks at my giddiness, and mumbles something about the drug, but I don't really hear it. I don't want to think about what was in that syringe.

I get on stage and dance my heart out. I'm partnered with Shauna for this routine. The happy effect continues on through the night. More people cheer. I'm used to it. Edward grabs at me after the routine. I'm used to it. After his lap dance I go around to others and do the same. I'm used to it. Molly, acting as either her alter ego Porsche, or Molly herself is drying humping a guy in a booth as he shoves money down her top. I'm used to it. Tori, as Paris has even started some kind of threesome of feeling each other up in the private ring above the main floor. I'm used to it. So much of this lifestyle doesn't faze me anymore. Part of me wonders if that's a good thing or a bad thing. Part of me just doesn't care.

Cara finishes off tonight as a farewell. Candy and I are back up for her, mostly swinging on the ropes around the stage. In a sensual manner of course. Eric even makes an announcement over the speaker that Trinity, Cara, will no longer be joining us here at Dauntless. That she will now be serving at Erudite. Some boos and ahhs go through the crowd. But as she takes one final bow on stage she smiles. They think she smiles because they're cheering for her. She's really smiling because she's leaving this dark black hole of a place.

Backstage, there's even a small plate of cookies. Store bought, but we'll take it. And a blue balloon tied up at Cara's station. She'll come back tomorrow and clear it of her things. Then we get the new girl, Cherry. She'll get Cara's station, and I'll show her around Monday night. Tell her about how things work around here and get her settled. I even get to be the one to take her to the tattoo artist to get the Dauntless wings on her lower back. We use Eric's card. The artist knows us all by heart. Whenever one of us enters with a new face, he leads us to a back room, no questions asked. Max pays him extremely well for all of his girls' tattoos.

Dauntless clears as we remove our outfits and wigs and makeup. It's a timely process, but it's worth it. I hang my wig up and organize my small makeup tray a bit waiting for Christina. She's always one of the last ones out. Everything has to be perfect with her. Eric both appreciates this in her, and is incredibly annoyed by it.

"I'm going to wait outside Christina." I shout back to her. It's too hot in here for me suddenly. I need fresh air. Cold air. My head feels heavy. The drug must be wearing off. The room starts to spin as I walk as gracefully as I can towards the back door. Everyone else is already gone.

I open the back door after a momentary struggle. Everything is moving faster, or it's taking my eyes longer to keep up with the world.

I lean against the back of the brick wall of the building and take deep uneven breaths. I feel light as a feather, yet it's incredibly difficult to move any part of me. What is going on? Is it a side effect of the drug I gave myself? Eric said it was a test… Am I just a guinea pig? I hear sounds like someone talking mixed with a car horn and maybe a trumpet. But it's all blurry too.

After moving my arms to try and press my hands over my ears to block out the weird noise of 3am Chicago, I realize my arms are no longer holding up my body against the wall. My legs give out from under me and I collapse to the cement. Laying there, it sure is cold. It feels good. Too good.

Shadows over take my vision and the weightless feeling is back, like I'm floating. Then I'm warm again. What is this, early menopause? Too warm. But I'm resting in something comfortable now. The world needs to make up its mind on what it's trying to make me feel.

One voice lingers in the back of my head. It's deep, and not quite unfamiliar, but also not well known to me. A car's engine sounds louder now. Maybe Christina got me into her car. That means we're going home. I miss my bed.

"Tris. It'll be okay. Just hang on." A voice says. Honestly, I don't know if it's a male or female. My gut stirs a bit, and nerves suddenly wrack my body. My heart beat speeds up drastically and suddenly I'm shaking. I can't stop it. Someone is shouting my name. It almost sounds like my father scolding me for playing on the playground for too long. Funny. I wonder what his voice would sound like now. Maybe like Caleb's voice.

Bright lights fill my fading vision. I don't like it.

"Help her please." The voice yells again. Now it sounds like mom. That can't be right though.

I'm so tired and cold.

Something sticks in my arm. I want to swat it away or scream that I don't like needles. But it's gone before I can even convince my arm to move. Nothing is moving. My chest feels heavy. My vision finally fades.

Everything is black.

****Ooohhh another cliffy! I would say sorry, but I'm kinda not… what do you guys think is going to happen? Let me know! Please review!****


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